


Until the Sun Goes Down

by Simon_Northcote



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dragon Hunters, Dragon Shapeshifter Zuko, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Korra is the Avatar but it's all explained here, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Violence, Multi, OT3, Oh who am I kidding, Other, Past Child Abuse, Polyamory, Selkie Katara, Shapeshifting, Wind Spirit Aang, dragon!zuko, i got carried away, it makes sense within the AU i promise, kind of, monster au, selkie!katara, spirit!aang, way too many words and too much plot for a low-effort valentines event, zutaraangexchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:48:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 80,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22704958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simon_Northcote/pseuds/Simon_Northcote
Summary: “I heard them calling in the distanceSo I packed my things and ranFar away from all the troubleI had caused with my two handsAlone we traveled on with nothing but a shadowWe fled far away”There was a dragon lying half dead in the South Pole, like the ones from the stories. Katara patched him up under the advice of a spirit, not knowing yet who he was. That encounter would mark their lives forever.They say the Avatar is back. A baby girl from the Southern Water Tribe.And the Fire Nation is out for blood.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Aang/Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 194





	1. Song Of The Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jaystrifes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaystrifes/gifts).



> (It's 12 am so I figured I might as well post it now! Happy valentine's day to everyone!)  
> This is a gift for Jaystrifes, for the zutaraang valentines exchange event. You asked for a Monster AU and I got a bit carried away :P I really hope you like it! I had a lot of fun writing it.  
> Actually this is around 80,000 words and 230 pages long, so I cut it into three chapters. I'l be posting chapter 2 tomorrow and chapter 3 past tomorrow. Hope thats ok lol

_“Between the here, between the now_

_Between the north, between the south  
Between the west, between the east  
Between the time, between the place_

_From the shell  
A song of the sea  
Neither quiet nor calm  
Searching for love again”_

–“[Song of The Sea](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6wVijh2n9g)”, by Lisa Hannigan.

**海豹精**

She first saw the black snow.

Ash. It was ash. And it carried the sharp smell of burning flesh wherever the wind blew it. The sky turned black like a piece of coal, and the people of the Southern Water Tribe feared for the worst.

And then she saw the fire.

Sokka knew, of course he knew. His father told him to stay and protect his sister while he was gone, and that was exactly what he was going to do. She was only eleven and her waterbending skills were embarrassing. So he looked for her, but just as he found her, she jumped into the water and disappeared from sight. He raced to his tent to retrieve his sealskin and jump after her. By the time he was in the water, she was nowhere to be seen.

Katara swam towards the west, where the black snow came from. Quick and swift by the shore, avoiding icebergs and making her way towards the red light she could see from under the edge of the sea. Beams of red and orange that looked soft from among the waves, but if she raised her head above the water, they would become sharp and hot.

So she stayed under the water until she was close enough.

She could see the red flare. She could hear the roaring, the shrieking, the screaming. The crying. The sobbing. She left the water and climbed onto a rock. Her sealskin fell, and she wrapped it comfortably around her shoulders, like a white coat that protected her perfectly from both wind and sight. There was no beach, only sharp, black rocks that rose from the sea, high above her head. A roar shook the sky from somewhere up there, and she knew she had no choice but to get up there. She raised her arms and tried to bend the water, but she had no training and could only manage a small wave. She couldn’t push herself up the rocks, so her only choice was to climb. Katara sighed and cursed her luck, but still clumsily scrambled up the first rock. The edges dug into the soles of her bare feet and into the palms of her hands and the rock scratched painfully at her skin, but if there was someone up there who needed help, she couldn’t abandon them.

Just as she’d made it up the first rock, there was a sharp whistle. A quick flash of white light and a gust of cold wind hit her, throwing her back into the sea. She splashed painfully into the waves and looked up, almost feeling like someone had attacked her. But there wasn’t anyone up there.

She tried once more, despite the painful scratch of the rock, and once again the wind pushed her into the water. She was sure someone was up there trying to stop her, but it couldn’t be. No, all airbenders were dead. It couldn’t be…

But on her third attempt, she couldn’t hold onto the rock and she was tossed into the waves like a ragdoll one last time. She raised her head and said:

“Stop that! I’m _trying_ to help!”

“I’m sorry!”

She turned around, and saw a boy standing on one of the rocks. He must be about her age, maybe a year older, and he was wearing orange and yellow robes. A red cloak hung from his shoulders, and a hood covered his head. It was like he had just… appeared, out of thin air. She didn’t hear him arrive.

“My friend is hurt” He said. “I was just worried you may hurt him”

“Well, I _was going_ to see if there was someone who needed help, but something got on my way” Katara said bitterly. “Can I see him now?”

The boy hesitated, but he must have realized he didn’t have many options, so he nodded.

“Sorry for tossing you off the rocks” he said. And to make up for it, once Katara had climbed onto one of the rock, he disappeared.

Just like he’d shown up, he was gone in the blink of an eye. Katara didn’t even see him fade into the wind. He was just… gone.

And then the wind hit her again, but instead of knocking her off the rocks, it lifted her, raising her up into the air and letting her fall on top of the highest rock, softly and without force. It lasted only a second, and once it was over, she tried to process if it had really happened.

Did the wind just… swoop her up?

She smoothed down her sealskin to make sure it wasn’t dirty. Then, she looked up

It wasn’t… well, she didn’t know what she was expecting, really. Perhaps something more scary or threatening, or with more blood. But there was no blood, or fire, or sharp things. It was just a boy, lying curled up in the ground. He was naked, but he wasn’t shaking. Her stomach dropped, and Katara rushed to his side fearing for the worst.

He wasn’t dead, thank the spirits. His skin was warm and his pulse was weak, but it was still there. She wished she had something to cover his body, but she only had her sealskin with her and she wasn’t taking _that_ off.

His hair was black and very long, pulled into a ponytail. She had never seen hair that long in a boy. Was it longer than _her_ hair? It almost made her uneasy, like something wasn’t right.

He couldn’t be older than thirteen, but when she tilted his head to see him better, she flinched and recoiled from him. She couldn’t look at it. She sight made her feel sick. She couldn’t. She couldn’t…

But he was hurt, and he needed help. She had to.

So she took a better look. His skin all over his left eye had been burned, melted by the heat. Did he even _have_ a left eye anymore? Was it still fresh? Oh, no, was it… _sticky?_ If anything touched it, would it stick to his face?

She felt nauseous.

But this wasn’t the time to feel nauseous. She turned to the other boy, the one with the hood.

“What happened to him?” She asked.

The boy shrugged.

“I don’t know” he confessed.

“How did he end up here?”

“I don’t know! I don’t remember!”

Katara stood up.

“What do you mean you don’t remember?”

“I don’t…” He shook his head. “I don’t remember anything”

Katara suddenly had a feeling that something was very, very wrong.

“Give me your cloak” She commanded.

“Uhm…”

“To cover him up” She clarified. “We can’t leave him like this when it’s so cold”

It was freezing, and only getting worse. The black snow still fell from the sky, and the sun must be setting soon. If they couldn’t get him warm before nightfall…

The boy reluctantly took off his hood, and Katara was met by the sight of a blue arrow tattooed into his bald head, with the tip ending just between his eyebrows. Her jaw dropped.

“You’re an airbender!” she exclaimed.

The boy smiled and handed the cloak to her. His clothes underneath didn’t look very warm.

“I am!” He exclaimed proudly. “I’m Aang. I come from the Southern Air Temple, not far from here!”

An airbender…

“What’s your name?” He asked.

“Oh! I’m Katara”

She thought… well, it was common knowledge that the Fire Nation had wiped them out, but the Southern Water Tribe was the smallest of all nations, and the most isolated one, too. She wouldn’t be surprised if news got to them last.

Still, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the blue arrows that traveled his body. From his head to the back of his hands and even to his bare feet.

Wait.

“Are you not cold?” She asked as she wrapped the red cloak around the older boy’s body. His skin was surprisingly warm. Almost feverish.

“Nope! Not at all” Aang replied. “The weather feels kind of nice, actually”

Katara nodded absently. It was delirious. Was that a fever dream? Black snow, a boy with one eye lying naked in the shore and the first airbender to be seen in a century. She wondered what Sokka would have to say about it.

Probably more than she did.

He would actually _complain_ about it. A lot.

She asked Aang for help and together they carried the unconscious boy towards the village, but he was heavy and Katara was worried about moving him too much and injuring him.

At times, she felt like she was carrying him on his own. He kept slipping from Aang’s grip, and Katara was starting to get annoyed.

Swimming was faster, but she wouldn’t be able to carry him if he couldn’t hold onto her. Yet as time passed and the sun descended, she grew more and more worried. She wasn’t cold, with her sealskin wrapped around her, and Aang definitely didn’t look cold in the slightest, but the boy wasn’t opening his eyes, he wasn’t moving, and with every step they took, the sky became darker and his body felt heavier. His skin was dangerously warm, and the cloak did next to nothing to protect him from the cold. His feet dragged against the snow. They left a trail behind them. He must be really, really sick.

“I think I know how to help” Aang said after an hour, and after the twentieth time he dropped all the weight on Katara’s shoulders. Hopefully in accident.

“You do?” Katara asked, trying to keep the exasperation from her voice.

“Yes! Just give me a second”

And then, he disappeared.

His clothes, his skin, his whole body just… vanished. Now Katara was _officially_ carrying the boy alone. She struggled to stand straight and hold him up. Before she could call out for Aang, she heard the whistling of wind. And then something strange happened. The boy’s body became lighter instead of heavier, lighter than any living human could possibly be. Yet he was so light, she could probably pick him up with one hand. The cloak waved with the wind, like a flag. And then she saw his feet didn’t touch the ground. The wind simply… lifted him into the air.

She held onto his arm, worried that he might fly away.

“Aang?” She called. “Is that you?”

The wind hit her face with a cheerful whistle.

So it _was_ Aang. He was the wind.

She didn’t know airbenders could do that.

She grabbed the levitating boy by the arms and resumed walking. He hovered mere inches above the ground, and occasionally his feet dragged against the snow, but carrying him was so easy that way, that they made it to the village in half an hour. Katara could feel the wind blowing on her hair the entire way.

By that time, the sun was nearly fully set. Aang let the boy drop and Katara was left to hold his weight on her own again. But in that moment, Aang reappeared in physical form. He took one of the boy’s arms and slung it over his shoulders. Together, they carried him into the village.

“Gran-Gran!” Katara called as soon as she spotted her grandmother, walking among the tents.

Gran-Gran then saw her granddaughter, exhausted, wearing only her sealskin and carrying an unconscious stranger into the village, with another very awake stranger by her side. Her face contorted into an expression of fear that Katara could distinguish even from the distance.

By the time the sun was set, the boy was inside the only igloo left in the village, under five layers of furs and next to the fire. Aang had been sent out to wait outside, so he wouldn’t disturb them. Gran-Gran wasn’t a particularly good healer— all the best healers had left to with the soldiers— but she was the only one with any knowledge on the matter in the whole village. She could stitch simple wounds and make medicine out of polar seaweed and penguin-otter fat. She knew what herbs would make you fall asleep and what herbs will give you a painless death, and she could cure the common cold. Anything beyond escaped her knowledge. She made sure to pass down these scraps of skill down to Katara, who listened attentively to every insignificant word, treasuring the fragments of scarce information with great care.

Katara now kneeled in silence, observing anxiously how her grandmother applied bloodmoss ointment to the burn with brusque motions, not caring about hurting the boy. Katara guessed it didn’t matter, because he hadn’t moved or opened his eyes in hours. He probably didn’t feel any pain, and she decided to be grateful for that. She had put on her normal clothes again, a blue dress and her necklace, but she kept her sealskin around her shoulders, for comfort.

“Katara” Gran-Gran said. “You need to learn how to do it yourself”

She offered her a roll of bandages. Katara took it with shaking hands.

“I don’t know” Katara replied as she examined the gauze, holding it between two fingers “I’ve never done this before”

“That’s why you need to learn” Gran-Gran insisted. “Go on. It’s not hard”

She bit her lip and looked at the unconscious boy. Gran-Gran had shaved his long black hair and thrown it into the fire, arguing that long hair wasn’t appropriate for a boy, and that it would only get in the way and make the procedure more difficult. Katara had to admit he looked better before.

He was unconscious, right? If she messed up, he wouldn’t feel any pain.

So Katara scooted closer and held his head up with one hand while she wrapped the bandage around his head with the other. She wrapped it so that the bloodmoss ointment stayed trapped tightly between the burnt skin and the cloth. Her hands were shaking the entire time. But once she was finished, she guessed she’d done a good job.

His breathing was weak. He was burning up. His skin kept growing hotter and hotter, and Katara was worried.

“Should I bring some snow?” She asked.

Gran-Gran said yes, and so Katara brought some snow in a basket, because she couldn’t bend it by herself yet. Gran-Gran applied snow to the boy’s forehead in a poor attempt to cool him down. She told Katara to keep the snow frozen, but her lack of mastership was evident when it kept spilling all over his head in the form of water. After some time, Gran-Gran gave up. She got up to her feet and told Katara to take care of him until she came back.

“Where are you going?” Katara asked.

“Tonraq’s wife is giving birth” was Gran-Gran’s simple explanation. “You can take care of that boy while I’m gone”

And so she left Katara alone with the boy in the igloo. Don’t get her wrong, she was happy to hear the baby was coming! The men left months before her pregnancy started to show, and that made Senna very anxious, to the point some women gossiped about the possibility of her losing the baby. And it was always good when a baby was born! The tribe was growing smaller and smaller and a baby always meant good news. She was happy to hear Senna’s baby was coming.

But she would give anything in the world to have her Gran-Gran next to her in that moment.

_(She realized then that she hadn’t heard of Sokka ever since she left hours prior)._

The boy was very, very pale. Even for someone from outside the tribe. And _now_ he was shaking, despite all the covers and the snow and the bloodmoss ointment and everything that Gran-Gran could offer him. He wasn’t waking up. He hadn’t eaten or drunk anything. He must be dehydrated, but Katara didn’t want to risk choking him by spilling water into his mouth.

Oh, no, what if he died?!

She pressed two fingers against his pulse. It was too weak for comfort. And his skin suddenly wasn’t hot anymore. It was cold. Freezing.

She couldn’t do this alone. She got to her feet and stomped towards the entrance of the igloo. She moved the curtains aside to see outside.

“It’s a glider” she heard a voice explain. “I hop on this and I use it to fly!”

“Last time I checked” A more familiar voice retorted. “Humans _can’t_ fly”

Katara had never been more relieved to hear her brother’s complaining.

She surrounded the igloo to find them talking behind a tent. Aang had gotten his red cloak back, and Sokka, well, he was just _back_. And that was enough.

“Sokka!” Katara called. She tackled him into a hug before he had the chance to reply.

“Where have _you_ been?!” Sokka asked. “I’ve been looking for you all day!”

Katara apologized and gave him a quick rundown of everything that happened ever since they got separated. She _didn’t_ skip over the weirdest parts, like Aang turning into wind. But she may have as well have, because he didn’t believe half of what she said anyways.

“Okay, okay, let me see if I understand” He said. “You’re telling me that _this_ kid can turn into wind”

“It’s not that difficult” Aang said. “And I just learned how to do it!”

Sokka snorted.

“Yeah” He said, “I’d like to see that someday”

Aang and Katara tried to argue that he could, in fact, turn into wind, but Sokka wouldn’t accept it. In the end, she gave up and guided them back into the igloo, to keep her company.

“I found him near the shore” She explained. Looking at the boy’s face, she frowned. “He’s very sick”

Sokka nodded thoughtfully.

“He looks like he’s cold” He pointed out, seeing as how he was shaking uncontrollably.

“You think? No kidding! I hadn’t noticed!” Katara mocked. “Thanks for telling me”

“Okay! Okay!” Sokka raised his hands defensively. “I probably deserved that”

Katara sighed. She didn’t mean to get angry.

She looked at the boy again. Fighting with Sokka wasn’t going to save him.

“I don’t think Gran-Gran knows what to do anymore” She said after a moment.

“I’m sure he’ll be okay” Aang said. “When I first saw him, he crashed into an iceberg and didn’t even break a leg”

Katara blinked. She looked at Aang.

“Aang” She said. “What do you mean he crashed into an iceberg?”

He shrugged.

“I don’t know. He just… crashed into it” He said. “That’s how he woke me up”

“Wait” Sokka intervened. “You were sleeping on an iceberg?”

Aang looked at the boy.

“I think I was sleeping _inside_ the iceberg” He said, as if that was the most normal thing in the world.

Katara looked at the boy and gripped the edge of her sealskin, digging her nails into the fur, looking for comfort. His face was contorted in pain.

So, it _did_ hurt.

“Inside. An _iceberg_ ” Sokka repeated.

“Hey! He can tell you once he wakes up” Aang insisted.

Sokka seemed to notice his sister’s attention was somewhere else. He put a hand on her shoulder.

“Look, there’s nothing you can do right now” He said. “Unless you want to give him another blanket, but I don’t see how that could help”

Katara swallowed. Another blanket wouldn’t help.

He was dying.

“Why did they shave his head?” Aang asked.

“It’s unmanly to have long hair” Sokka explained. “I thought you would know that, you know, being bald and all”

“It’s not unmanly _everywhere_ ” Aang argued. “My friend Kuzon has long hair”

No, another blanket wouldn’t save him, but maybe she could grant him a little bit of comfort during his last seconds.

She took her sealskin off her shoulders and laid it over his body, over the five other fur blankets covering him and making sure it didn’t touch his skin. The pelt was a pure snowy still white, like with all children.

There. Maybe it could keep him a bit warmer. Just a little bit.

Sokka noticed, because of course he did. He squeezed her shoulder.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” Aang asked.

Katara turned her head and smiled at him.

“Nothing, Aang” She said. “It’s nothing”

They stayed like that for several silent minutes. The only noise was the boy’s ragged breathing and the crackling of the fire a few feet away. No one dared to talk. No one dared to disturb the moment or the slow death that was taking place in front of them. This wasn’t the first time Katara and Sokka had seen death, but it wasn’t something you could get used to.

The fire crackled. It vomited a cloud of sparks, and then it started to die. The wood and coal creaked and complained under the smothering flame. Slowly, the flame started to lose color. Soon they’d be in the dark. Katara couldn’t see the boy’s face anymore.

There was a moment of silence.

And then, the light came back.

It was soft, dim and it wasn’t red, like the fire. It was blue.

It came from the tiniest space between every individual hair of the sealskin, seeping through the fur like the glow of the moon seeping through ice. It illuminated their faces, drowning every fear and worry and pain for only a moment before it receded back into skin, disappearing until the only light came from the fire, now bright and high and proud, burning with heat and passion.

Katara blinked. Had that really happened?

And then _the boy_ blinked. His eyes fluttered open, and for a split of a second, Katara’s heart stopped. His eyes, they were bright golden. His pupils were vertical slits, like those of a tiger seal.

Then he blinked again, and his eyes were normal. They weren’t golden, just a light amber.

It had probably been her imagination.

The boy tried to sit up.

“…What? Where am I?”

Katara immediately scooted closer with the intention of helping him sit up, but he leaned away from her helping hand with a scowl.

“Who are you!?” He demanded to know.

“Oh, you know, no one important” Sokka said, before Katara could reply. “Just the person that saved your life”

The boy looked around, clearly confused. He glanced at their clothes, taking note of the color. Of course. He was a foreigner. He must be wondering how on earth he got to the South Pole.

“My name is Katara” She introduced herself. “The sarcastic jerk here is my brother Sokka. And this is Aang”

She gestured at the airbender, who simply smiled at the boy.

He glared at him.

“You’re an airbender” He pointed out.

“I am!” Aang nodded.

“Sokka, could you fetch me water and some clothes for him?” Katara ordered with a polite smile.

Sokka nodded and ran out of the igloo to find a waterskin.

“What do I do?” Aang asked.

“Just… stay here with me” Katara asked. The boy still looked weak.

He touched his bandages, his scalp.

“What did you do to my hair!?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Katara argued. “That was my Gran-Gran”

“There’s nothing wrong with not having hair!” Aang exclaimed. The boy groaned.

“How did I get here?” He asked.

“You crashed into my iceberg, remember?”

The boy stared at Aang with an expression of confusion and almost terror.

“I think we need to go a bit slower” Katara suggested. She turned to the boy. “What’s your name?”

The boy swallowed.

“I’m Zuko”

Zuko. That was a strange name.

“Do you remember anything?” She asked.

Zuko squinted, trying to remember.

“My father…” He mumbled. His fingers grazed his bandages. “He…”

Her stomach dropped.

No. It couldn’t be. No father could…

“It’s okay” she stopped him. “Do you remember how you got here?”

He shook his head.

“Where am I?” He asked.

“You’re in the South Pole” Katara explained. “I found you wounded near the shore” she glanced at Aang. “Well, Aang found you”

“After you woke me up, I wanted to make sure you were okay” He said. “We were worried you may…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, thankfully.

Katara looked at her sealskin, still on top of the other blankets. It had… healed him, somehow.

She didn’t know sealskins could do that. But then again, she didn’t know airbenders could turn into wind at will.

She picked it up and hung it around her shoulders, where it belonged.

“How do you feel?” She asked Zuko.

“I’m fine” He snarled.

Katara frowned and stood up.

“Do you know how hard it was to carry you here? We thought you were going to die! And now you snarl at me!?”

Zuko was probably exhausted and scared, but Katara forgot to care in that moment. Sokka was right—Katara had saved his life, and he wasn’t even a bit thankful.

He mumbled something under his breath.

“What was it?” Katara demanded. “Speak clearly when you talk!”

“I said I’m sorry!” He repeated. He still didn’t sound as thankful as Katara would have liked, but she would take it.

“Well, _you’re welcome_ ” she replied, crossing her arms and suppressing a smug smirk.

Sokka came back shortly after with water and clothes. Zuko chugged down all the water from the waterskin until it was empty and Katara sent Sokka to find some more. They left him alone so he could get dressed and Katara took that moment to go tell Gran-Gran about it.

Zuko and Aang would stay at the South Pole for two more months, until Zuko had recovered enough to leave the bandages behind. And those two months were some of the best months of Katara’s life. Aang showed Sokka that he could, in fact, fly. He soared across the air with his glider and, when Sokka stopped looking surprised, he turned into wind, simply disappearing. He liked to play with the little kids. In a matter of days he had an entire fan club. Even the adult women seemed impressed with his unique display of airbending. No one had seen airbending before, after all.

The entire village gathered in the Igloo to eat twice a day, and discuss relevant matters and recent happenings. Senna officially presented her baby to the tribe, and Gran-Gran, being the only elder, dipped her fingers in red coral oil to draw a mark on the little girl’s forehead. The Mark of Hope. There was a lot of celebrations that day. By the end of dinner, considering neither Zuko nor Aang were present, Gran-Gran addressed a more concerning matter:

“Katara, the boy you brought with you is the first airbender to be seen in years” she said. “I want to make sure you know the risks that it represents”

Katara was only eleven, but she could put on her Adult Mask and nod decisively. Letting Aang stay wasn’t a decision she made carelessly.

“And the other one” Gran-Gran continued. “I don’t like him. As soon as he’s healed, he must leave the South Pole”

And Zuko… well, it was difficult at first. He was taken to a tent of his own, and he wouldn’t leave it for a few days, sulking in the dark and barely eating. He would lash out at anyone who tried to talk to him, except for Aang, with whom he simply moped in silence with the occasional growl of acknowledgment when Aang sat next to him to tell him about his day, and Katara, who scolded him mercilessly every time he snarled or scowled, to the point he was too scared and annoyed to even talk back to her. He needed to be set some limits. He thought he could treat people like garbage all he wanted without consequences. That was, until Gran-Gran hit him on top of the head with a spoon made of bone because he refused to eat her Penguin-Otter stew. After that, he kept all his growling and snarling for himself.

At night, he had nightmares. Katara only saw him once, when she brought him food one afternoon while he was still sleeping.

“I’m sorry” he mumbled with a broken voice. “I’m sorry. I won’t fight you”.

Despite not seeing him have a nightmare again, Katara could infer his bad dreams weren’t gone, judging by the bags under his eyes and his terrible, absolutely disastrous and embarrassing sleep schedule. Sometimes he slept all day, and sometimes he wouldn’t close an eye in all night. Gran-Gran made him a special tea to help him relax. Katara later found out that the tea also helped numb out the pain, and she expected him to become nearly addict to it, like many wounded soldiers did, in an attempt to escape the pain. But he didn’t. He didn’t drink more than necessary. It was as if he wanted to savor every minute of his agony with bitterness. Katara was almost mad at him for being so damn _proud_ and _stubborn_.

“You know, he kinda reminds me of you” Sokka told her one day when Katara complained about it.

“Oh, come on! I’m nothing like that!” She countered. Sokka gave him an unimpressed smile.

“If you say so”

At first it was concerning how depressed he was. He was angry and hurt and often cursed destiny for doing this to him. It was an insufferable balance of distressing and pathetic. Once, Katara heard him cry. She was surprised to see the one comforting him through it was Aang.

Aang asked her for help one day. She wrapped herself in her sealskin, jumped into the water and swum west, following him. They traveled for about an hour, until he stopped at an iceberg. Katara raised her head above the water.

“See if you can find a piece of iceberg with a flying bison inside down there” Aang asked her. “He must be as big as that iceberg over there. And he has six legs”

Katara wished she could speak when she was in her seal skin, but she didn’t think any explanation from Aang’s part would make things clearer, so she dove deep into the water and looked for any block of ice that looked like it had something inside. She searched for hours in the water while Aang jumped from iceberg to iceberg up in the air. In the end, they didn’t find what they were looking for. Aang looked a bit disappointed on the way back, but he didn’t let that ruin his day. He and Katara had a race back to the village. She would swim and he would fly, and the one who lost would have to bring Zuko his food that night. Katara hadn’t had that much fun in a long time. As they arrived to the village, she decided to ask:

“So, Aang” she started. “Since you’re an airbender, I was wondering if you knew what happened to the Avatar”

Aang’s eyes widened for a split of a second.

“Uh… no, sorry. I never met him”

Katara actually lost the race, which was disappointing, but she didn’t need to spoon-feed Zuko that night, because he had finally decided to leave the darkness of his tent to get food on his own, like a big boy. Two women had hunted an elephant-dolphin and were now cutting it in pieces for everyone to eat. That was the first time Zuko ate with the rest of the village, without any growling and complaining. By the end of the night, he mumbled something about the food being very good. Aang didn’t eat anything, politely rejecting any meat offered to him. Katara realized she hadn’t seen him eat anything at all since he arrived.

Zuko started to change his bandages on his own. Last time Katara saw him, his skin was marred and scared, the burn destroying his left eyebrow and crawling down to cover half his cheek and twisting his eye into a perpetual squint. When Katara asked him if he could see anything from his left eye, Zuko looked down and didn’t reply. Maybe that was the reason why he stopped accepting her help.

How could a father do such thing to his own child?

She thought about her own father. She had always thought he was the best dad in the world (despite leaving— it was okay. She understood why he did it), and she couldn’t wrap her head around the idea of a father that would cause pain to his son.

Zuko was often nervous (key word: irritable) around fire, and no one expected him not to be (many soldiers behaved this way after fighting firebenders), but he was exceptionally good at keeping the fire alive, even with too little wood, or wood that was too wet. He could usually be found staring at the bonfire in the middle of the Igloo. One day, Katara asked him if he wanted to talk about it.

“No” he replied. And, after a moment, he added in very soft voice: “But thanks for asking”

He was looking down and blushing, like he was humiliated by the mere expectation of being a decent person. But she was pleasantly surprised. This was the first time he’d ever thanked her. She considered it a victory.

Aang and Zuko (but especially Aang) brought her a lot of happiness. Katara had mostly resigned herself to a life of cooking and sewing and fishing and taking care of little kids, but every time Aang waved at her from the distance, she allowed herself to take a moment to forget about responsibility and seriousness and to simply have _fun_. Then went penguin sledding together and often had races and played a game that Aang called _‘airball’_ with snowballs. And he was nice to her. He didn’t tell her what she could and couldn’t do as a girl, or order her around and give her countless chores to do. He instead asked about her day and always came up with a new game to play. He listened when she talked about how annoying Sokka could be or how she missed her mom and dad. He was a bit strange, but it wasn’t a big turn off. One day, sliding down an ice slide, his cloak got caught in the ice and a big gash opened on the side.

“Oh! Give it to me. I can patch it up” Katara immediately offered. She wanted to do something nice for him.

“No need. Check this out!”

He pressed his fists together and wind swirled around him. When it was done, his cloak was perfectly fixed.

Katara was starting to suspect there was something more than airbending going on, but didn’t question much. Aang quickly invited her to play on the icebergs, and Katara happily followed him.

Zuko was definitely not as much fun as Aang was, preferring to sulk and brood and mope most of the time. But sometimes, when Katara wasn’t in the mood for penguin sliding, and instead thought about her mother or about the men of the tribe, he would sit by her side, not quite sure what to say but ready to listen to her.

“See this necklace?” She pressed a hand against her throat. “It belonged to my mother. It’s the last connection I have to her”

Zuko looked down.

“I’m sorry” he said. “I know what it’s like”

He always listened. He was patient with her. And he had stopped lashing out or growling at her. She could tell this was a very, very important effort for him. He physically restrained himself from raising his voice _too much_ (a little was okay from time to time, especially when they were both angry).

It was nice to have someone to talk to. She could talk to Sokka or Gran-Gran, sure, but… she always felt bad when she did so. Like she was unloading an unfair share of worries on them. She was the one supposed to look after them, after all.

She didn’t feel like she needed to take care of Zuko. Mostly because Zuko got super annoyed whenever she as much as _offered_ any sort of assistance, but what at first had caused her exasperation now felt like a big weight being lifted off her shoulders. He cooked his own food and washed his own clothes, because he argued that he didn’t like people touching his clothes (the clothes _they_ gave to him, mind you). In any case, it was a parka less to wash.

Besides, his hair had grown a bit, and he was looking _much_ better than before.

But the one who got along with Zuko the most was Aang, which was unexpected, because they couldn’t be more different. Aang was fun and relaxed and easygoing, and Zuko was the human equivalent of an angry cat that’d been thrown into cold water. Yet they spent a considerable amount of time together. Aang would fly around Zuko asking questions and talking and jumping off cliffs for fun and Zuko would tolerate his presence rather well. He even looked for him from time to time, asking the people in the village if they’d seen him. One day, he asked Katara. He avoided her gaze as he did it. He told her he hadn’t seen him for the last two days. It wasn’t uncommon for Aang to leave for hours at the time, but two whole days was concerning. They parted in that exact moment.

They traveled by foot, trying to figure out where Aang could have possibly gone to. Katara remembered how he was so adamant to look for a frozen sky bison several miles at west from there, and she considered that was a good place to start. They walked the vast fields of ice and snow, marching over the glaciers that descended into the ocean and by the shore of black pebbles. It was the first month of fall, which meant the days were shortening at a vertiginous rate. The sun rose and set in a matter of hours, and by the end of the month, it wouldn’t even rise above the horizon. They parted quite late in the morning, before the sun came out, and by the time they found Aang, the day had given way to the night hours before.

He wasn’t looking for frozen bisons in the icebergs. He was a bit further west, where the adults always told Katara and her brother not to venture. It was a monument to remember the darkest parts of the history of her people. The reason why she was alone.

The last waterbender.

A Fire Nation ship, with its hull encased on ice that hadn’t melted in over sixty years. It was tilted with the bow raised many feet over the ground. It was a beast of smoke and metal, that swallowed people and vomited blood. The sight of it alone made her stop in her tracks, the trauma of a time she never got to experience catching up with her like an unstoppable loop, _that could have been you, that could have been you, that WOULD have been you._

She forced herself to advance. Aang might be inside and they needed to find him.

The inside of the warship was cold and dark and _smelly_ , which was strange in such cold temperatures. Nothing had smell in the cold, but the ship was swollen with the essence of rust and decay. Zuko seemed to know his way very well inside the ship, avoiding all the booby trap triggers and unlocking every door in their way.

They found Aang curled up inside a cell, with his red cloak wrapped around him. He had stepped into a trap and locked himself up in accident. He could have easily turned into wind and left, but he made no attempt to get out. He sulked in silence, much like Zuko had done for weeks. Zuko quickly pressed buttons and pulled levers to open the cell door, but Aang still wouldn’t get out. He didn’t even stand up, or turn to look at his friends. When Katara called his name, he replied.

“It’s true, isn’t it?” His voice was tiny and fragile. “They’re all dead. I’m the last airbender”

He was holding a long scroll in his hands. Katara didn’t get to read what it said, but she saw two big symbols on the parchment: the Air Nomad glyph and the Fire Nation character in two of the corners. It was a sort of bullet point list, with numbers and crossed out words.

Katara swallowed. She hadn’t wanted to tell him. She assumed… well, since Aang was pretty much alive, she guessed the Air Nomads had gone into hiding. A century old secret coming to light just now, to a very few select people.

“Aang?” Katara took a step towards him. “You didn’t know?”

“No! I— I saw Monk Gyatso just a few weeks ago! He can’t be dead!”

Every word felt like a stab to the heart. Katara wanted nothing but to hold him and comfort him, because she knew what it was like to lose someone you loved.

 _But that happened over a hundred years ago!_ She almost said, but she bit her tongue.

A hundred years…

He’d been trapped in that iceberg for a hundred years.

Zuko had been silent during the whole exchange, even standing behind Katara, as if not wanting to intrude.

It was then that Aang decided to disappear. The force of the wind was brutal. It hit her dead on the chest, vicious and ferocious, ripping paper and debris from the walls and flinging them around the room. It was a storm of pain and tears that wrecked the ship from the inside out before being ripped out of it, like a scream tearing a throat apart, and shredding its way out of the metal beast, releasing all the anger into the sky.

Something busted inside the machine. The brutal force of the movement pushed pistons and cracked mechanism inside. A red flare shot up into the sky, like a shooting star. It signaled their position.

There was a snowstorm that night.

Katara and Sokka helped Gran-Gran gather everyone inside the igloo. She tried her best to reinforce it from the outside, sealing every crack with ice, and even if it was a poor job, the village spent the night crammed inside the ice without problem. They had packed up the tents and everyone’s belongings to store them inside the construction, so they wouldn’t be blown away by the storm. The igloo was the only remnant of the village left standing. There was no village anymore. Only an ice refuge, eight adult women and seven children waiting for the storm to pass.

It was then when Katara’s heart broke. She counted how many people were there, and she realized just how few there were. Only fifteen. One of which wasn’t a part of the tribe (Zuko). That left fourteen people. Fourteen people born in the South Pole. Only two of them had sealskins. And only one could waterbend.

That was what was left of her nation. It had always been the smallest nation, but it had never been so… insignificant. They had once been much bigger. They’d had temples inside glaciers and cities of hundreds of igloos, shamans who guided the last Southern Avatar through her spiritual journey many centuries ago, and they’d had the greatest waterbending academy in the world. They made unique discoveries in the fields of navigation and medicine, all of which were now lost. All the waterbending scrolls were burned by the tribesmen themselves during the raids, and historic record was passed down orally by the Elders.

Gran-Gran’s memory wasn’t very strong.

There was one airbender and one southern waterbender. There was one Air Nomad, and fourteen people in the South Pole.

It filled Katara’s heart with dread to think how close they were to disappear, like Aang’s people.

The Fire Nation was a machine of death and blood. It ravaged nation after nation, dragging its claws against the flesh of anyone who dared to offend it by existing, devouring every man, woman and children it could find until it was completely obliterated. It swallowed bones and vomited blood. Like a shadow that drowned every life it could find. And once it had decimated a nation, like a black stain in a map where before a country had been signaled, it moved on to the next one, to expand death to all corners of the world until death was the only thing there was. It was dead body after dead body after dead body. The igloo filling with blood.

She hugged her brother and waited for the storm to pass. She once heard that firebenders don’t have any power in the cold. She took comfort in that idea.

Aang came back the next morning. He apologized profusely for leaving and for causing such a mess. Katara tried to hug him, but her arms passed right through him. He had slipped away from her touch before they touched. Still, she couldn’t be angry at him. There was nothing to forgive.

But Zuko didn’t seem to think so. He took Aang outside the village and they both sat on the ice by the shore. They watched the sea together. Katara didn’t mean to overhear, but they were talking louder than they thought.

“There’s something I need to tell you” Zuko said.

“What is it?” Aang asked.

Zuko inhaled deeply, as if bracing himself for the impact of his own words.

He started talking. Katara felt her stomach drop. Even though Zuko apologized to Aang and even though Aang didn’t seem angry in the slightest, that moment marked a before and an after for Katara. She felt betrayed. Backstabbed. Zuko wasn’t a friend. He was the enemy. He may as well have killed the Air Nomads and destroyed the South Pole himself!

They didn’t immediately see her. It took Zuko a moment to turn around and spot her watching them. His expression turned into one of horror. He quickly got to his feet but before he could say a word, Katara ran off, towards the village.

She told Gran-Gran and Sokka, and soon her brother had gathered the fourteen members of the tribe to present resistance against the invader. They would find him and there would be bloodshed. Sokka mentioned something about keeping him as a hostage, or selling him to the Earth Kingdom. They couldn’t let him go.

But Zuko was nowhere to be seen.

The village was in chaos. The women and children looked through every tent, under every table and blanket and around every corner trying to find the invader. Sokka grabbed his boomerang and climbed on top of his watch tower, trying to spot him.

The wind blew harshly, and Katara suddenly realized Aang wasn’t around either.

The wind, yes, the wind!

It pushed towards the east, forcefully and unrelenting. If Aang wasn’t there, then he must be with him.

She had nothing to lose. She started running in the direction of the wind.

Her boots didn’t slip once on the ice or the snow. She was quick and agile even in the cold. Definitely faster than someone from Zuko’s country. The wind pushed her in the right direction, like a sort of confirmation. Above her, the clouds twisted and darkened quickly. Snow began o fall.

She finally spotted him, standing alone on the vast expanse of ice. The wind whistled sharply around her. It sounded anxious.

“Zuko!” Katara yelled. He suddenly turned around. His scar… _of course_. His father was a firebender. Just like he probably was. Only a firebender could do such a thing.

The wind gave a twist, and now it pushed _against_ her. It raised the snow like a million tiny blades that cut her skin.

“I’ll leave! I promise I’ll leave!” Zuko shouted. “You won’t have to worry about me anymore”

“You’re not going anywhere!” Katara stated, walking closer and pushing against the wind. “We can’t let you go tell your father about us”

“My father banished me!” Zuko protested, but Katara wasn’t having any of it. It was all lies! He lied about everything!

“Oh, he did?” She snarled. “You’re the prince of the Fire Nation! And to think that I saved your life!” A deep, hot anger settled in her stomach. “I can’t believe I trusted you!”

He took a step back. If Zuko was hurt, Katara didn’t bother to see it. Snow fell like an avalanche. Her face and hands were numb from the cold, and the roaring of the wind filled her ears. She could barely hear anything else.

“I’m sorry” Zuko said, perhaps with the slightest tinge of sarcasm. “I didn’t mean to crash on that iceberg”

“Don’t you talk like that now!” Katara scolded him. “You’re coming with me”

“I can’t” Zuko said. “They’ll kill me”

He turned around and started to walk away. And Katara chased after him. She was surrounded by snow— water. She could stop him. She moved her arms, but the snow merely fluttered around her. She could push, but the wind pushed harder. It blew so hard, it knocked her off her feet and smashed her against the ground. For a moment, it stopped, almost apologetically, but then it resumed, it whistling so loud, almost bursting her ears. She tried to get up, but the snow blinded her. Everything was white. She raised her arm and pushed it aside, creating the smallest window to see Zuko’s head. His short black hair. Black hair. She got to her feet, tried to run. She slipped uselessly. It was so cold, her hands burned with every movement. There was a scream, and it took her a moment to realize it was her. The storm roared back.

She called Zuko’s name. She cursed it with every bad word she knew. She begged Aang to stop, but he wouldn’t bulge. He betrayed her. Left her. Just like her mom and her dad had left.

She took a step. Another step. Pushing the snow aside, like a curtain. She saw a head of black hair. Black hair on the wind. The white blocked her vision again. The roar sounded like thunder now. It was low, but it was also so high it nearly blinded her. It tossed her to the ground.

She hit her head on the ice. Pain shot through her skull. And the wind stopped. Even the snow stopped falling. The snowflakes remained suspended on the air.

Or maybe they didn’t, and they kept falling vertiginously. She didn’t know. She couldn’t tell. Everything was so white around her.

But after a moment, the white parted. She could see the ice below her and the dark clouds above her. She blinked. The clouds. They were so dark.

The wind whistled past her, like a final goodbye before letting her fall in silence. She let out a shuddering breath.

A lonely shadow soared into the sky. A patch of black into the darkness. The storm engulfed it, like a mother’s embrace. A flickering black string, like a thin feather. That was all she saw.

There was a lightning. A flash that lasted a split of a second, followed by a low roar, and she realized it was thunder what she’d heard in the storm. Whistling and thunder. And for some reason, it reminded her of the pained groans from Zuko’s nightmares.

The shadow was gone. And so was Zuko.

Katara was left alone once again, in the vast expanse of ice.

**海豹精**

Months later, when the sky was dark and the Southern Lights danced over their heads, Senna asked Katara to babysit her daughter. The baby had big eyes and a smile that transmitted lot of energy. Her skin was surprisingly warm, but she wasn’t feverish. Despite her apparent incapability of falling asleep, Senna’s daughter wasn’t difficult to take care of. She seemed particularly interested in Katara’s waterbending. She would form clumsy shapes with water or snow and the baby would burst into laughter. She raised her tiny starfish hands and tried to touch the water. Katara once asked Senna if she thought the baby would turn out to be a waterbender. Senna looked strangely anxious at the question. Katara didn’t see why. It would be nice to have another waterbender.

“I’m just worried” The mother confessed. “After the Air Nomads…”

The Air Nomads were dead. Well, except for one. But she hadn’t heard of him in months.

Katara would have been wise to remember that moment.

But she wasn’t wise. She was eleven years old. She wasn’t even particularly intelligent, even if she wasn’t dumb either. But it was only natural that she would forget about the baby in the moment she saw the boats coming towards the shore.

Three Water Tribe sailboats, with hulls made out of elephant whale ribs and snow rhino leather. The sight was a reason for celebration. The warriors were coming home!

But after further observation, they realized the number of ships didn’t grow. They first saw three ships and no more were coming. That meant only a small number of men were coming home. The village, which had been a place of happiness mere minutes before, was suddenly shaken by anxiety. Everyone prayed their loved one was the one coming home, while everyone else drowned at sea. In short, they were praying for the death of their fellow tribesmen. Anything for a father, a husband, a brother or a son to be the one to survive.

Katara wasn’t an exception, even if she felt guilty about it. She wished with all her might to see her father again. She didn’t care about the rest. If he wasn’t in one of those boats, she would gladly wish for the death of the one who took his place. A selfish love invaded the hearts of every woman and child in the village, because they were so broken by pain that couldn’t afford any other kind of love.

In the end, it was a pointless expression of love, because none of their fellow tribesmen were on the boats.

The village was taken aback by the confusion when they realized that the men coming out of the ships were strangers. The first assumption was that they were Fire Nation spies, coming to raid and destroy what little was left of the tribe, and Katara rushed to blame it on the long-gone Fire Prince, but she turned out to be wrong. These men weren’t Fire Nation. It was even more unbelievable than that. They came from the Northern Water Tribe.

Which raised the question: why was this the first time their sister tribe decided to visit them? What was so important— more important than the raids and the theft of waterbenders— that they decided to visit now?

The man in charge, Hahn, demanded to talk to the Chief. Sokka was the one to walk up to him.

“You’re the chief?” The man asked dismissively. “But you’re only a kid”

Sokka clenched his fists.

“My dad is out there fighting the war” Sokka said. “He left _me_ in charge”

Hahn seemed to realize this was as much as he was going to get, so he accepted to meet with him in the igloo. When Katara tried to follow them, Hahn pushed her away.

“I’m not going to discuss this with a woman” He said, before closing the curtain on her face.

Closed the curtain on _her_ face, from _her_ igloo in _her_ village. In the ten minutes he spent in the South Pole, he’d insulted them so much she couldn’t wait to sink his ship. And don’t get her started on his companions— all of them men, bossing around the women of their sister tribe. They didn’t even know their names, but they still demanded they bring them food and wash their dirty clothes.

Katara was furious.

Sokka came out of the igloo minutes later, equally furious but for entirely different reasons. He told Katara about it outside the village, by the shore.

“They came here looking for waterbenders” He said. “Apparently, they didn’t even know about the raids”

And if Katara was furious before, it couldn’t compare to how she felt now. Not only they abandoned them— they completely _ignored_ them. They _forgot_ about them.

And now they wanted to take their waterbenders.

There was only one waterbender left.

“At first I wanted to tell them to leave right now and don’t come back unless they bring help” He said. He looked down. “But then I realized, this may be your only chance to learn real waterbending”

Katara blinked. It couldn’t be real.

“But they need me here” She argued. “Besides, I don’t know what I’d do all alone in the North Pole”

“I have it covered” Sokka said. “And even though girls can’t be warriors, it would come handy to have a waterbender here. If they let you come back, that it”

Katara wanted to slap him for that comment, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so.

These men seemed… awful. And the idea of being all alone at the other side of the world scared her. The more time she spent among Northern men, the less she thought of the North Pole as the other half of her home.

But becoming a master waterbender was her dream. It was the only way to honor the memory of her predecessors. And it would be the only way to make justice.

If she became a warrior, she could protect her tribe. She could teach the next generation of waterbenders. Sokka was right. She would be of much more help as a master than as an untrained waterbender, wasting her talents, leaving them to rot and insulting all the waterbenders that came before her.

So she and Sokka talked to Hahn about it. They told him she was the last southern waterbender left, and that she wanted to learn in the North. She was ready to pack her things and leave.

But then Hahn looked at them with such disgust, as if her mere existence was an insult to him.

“We came here looking for _warriors_ ” He told Sokka, not even looking at Katara. “Are you serious? Is this all you can offer us?”

“Hey, I know” Sokka shrugged. “But she’s all we have”

“Sokka!” Katara scolded him. Looking at Hahn, she added. “I know I’m not a warrior yet, but I’m sure I can become one if you just…”

“I wasn’t speaking to you” Hahn interrupted. He turned to Sokka. “You can’t expect us to train a woman in waterbending”

Wait.

“What do you mean?” Sokka asked, suddenly sounding suspicious.

“We already have enough healers. It’s the warriors we’re losing in the battlefield” He explained. “Trust me. She’ll be more useful here”

“But I don’t want to heal!” Katara complained. “I want to fight!”

Hahn looked at her contempt, and Katara had no choice but to return the glare, because looking away would be accepting defeat. It would be humiliating. Challenging him with her gaze was her way of offering resistance.

“Your place is in the healing hut. Not in battle” He said. “I’m not going to argue with a southern peasant woman”

He walked away before Katara could say another word.

“I can’t believe this!” She groaned, getting ready to sleep later that night. “They can’t just turn me away because I’m a girl”

“I honestly didn’t think he’d say that” Sokka confessed. “It doesn’t make sense. If they’re so desperate, then why bother coming all the way here? They only get half the waterbenders!”

You could tell it was bad because even _Sokka_ , of all people, thought it was stupid.

The Northerners packed up their things twenty-four hours later, seeing as they hadn’t found what they came looking for. Sokka tried to reason with them, insisting that Katara would be a valuable asset, but they refused to take her. They didn’t think she was worth the effort.

Under the eternal light of the Southern Lights, the ships parted. Hahn gave Sokka a formal but forced goodbye before getting inside his boat.

Katara saw what they did. Those men were waterbenders, and they weren’t shy to show it. The rows of warriors gathered at each side of the ship and raised their arms in a way Katara had never seen before. The water followed their movements, pulling the hull of the ship into the sea and away from the South Pole, abandoning them once again.

And Katara simply observed, finally realizing that she would never be able to do that. Teaching herself wasn’t going anywhere, and the Northerners wouldn’t train her. She knew it was wistful thinking, but she always had the childish hope, the _fantasy_ that one day, she may be able to travel and learn and claim back everything that had been stolen from her people.

And now that dream was sailing away, with the Northern ships. The realization hit her harder than she expected. It kicked the air out of her lungs and filled her eyes with tears. 

It wasn’t fair.

How dare they turn her away!? How dare they do this to her!?

She wasn’t letting them take this from her. She just wouldn’t. She couldn’t give up without offering a good fight first.

So she ran into her tent, picked up her sealskin and jumped into the water.

She swam like her life depended on it, because it did. She couldn’t move her arms but she tried to pull the water to propel her forward, going faster and faster, at an unrelenting pace, until every muscle burned her.

She saw the shadow of the closest ship near her, and she jumped over the water to catch their attention. So they’d know she wasn’t letting them win this fight.

One of the warriors spotted her. He signaled another man. She quickly dipped into the water and jumped again.

“Is that a seal?” She heard him ask.

She splashed into the waves again. The deck was high above the water. She couldn’t jump onto it. Perhaps with waterbending…

She jumped again and tried to pull the water with her, but it barely helped her rise above the surface.

“No” The older man replied. “That’s no seal”

She tried to shed her skin. Maybe she could bend more easily with her free arms and legs…

And then the water engulfed her, the cold hitting her mercilessly now that she didn’t have her sealskin to protect her. The wave pushed her upwards, high above the sea, embracing her like the fish she used to catch with her brother. She was carelessly tossed onto the deck.

Her sealskin was the perfect coat. It covered her from head to toe and even touched the floorboards. It was so big, that the sleeves hung from her wrists like those of a royal dress. Yet some men looked away from her. No one had looked away from her when she was in her sealskin before.

“You!” Hahn shouted. “I told you we’re not taking you. I _ordered_ you to stay in the South Pole”

“I thought you say I wasn’t your warrior?” Katara replied, with a tinge of defiance. “I mean, I could be if you gave me a chance”

“Did she just turn into a seal?” Someone else asked, but he was hushed.

“This is the exact reason why women would make terrible warriors” Hahn said, more to his crew than to Katara. “They’re not rational. They get emotional and disobey direct orders. It would be impossible to command an army with such disorganization” He turned to Katara. “Only a woman would have the idea to invade our ship like this”

Katara clenched her fists. He couldn’t be serious.

In that moment, there was a splash coming from below.

“Katara! Are you up there?” A familiar voice called. Katara turned around and leaned into the railing.

“Sokka?!”

“I can’t believe this” Hahn mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Two waterbenders helped Sokka onto the deck. Like, Katara, he was wearing only his waterskin, but he was also carrying a big bag with him.

“What are you doing here?” Katara asked. “Never mind. Sokka, I’m going. And you can’t stop me”

Sokka raised a hand, as a gesture of peace.

“I’m not here to stop you” He said, raising the bag. “You forgot to bring your stuff. Oh, and you dropped this”

He handed her the necklace. Katara’s hand instinctively went to her neck. She hadn’t even noticed it was gone.

“We’re not taking her” Hahn insisted.

“She’s not that easy to get rid of” Sokka countered. “Believe me. I’ve tried”

Hahn gave them both a strange look. Then, he reached out and touched Sokka’s sealskin.

Sokka let out a horrified yelp. He jumped back and smacked Hahn’s hand away from his skin. Katara’s eyes widened. Her heart was racing.

“What are you doing!?” Sokka snarled.

“Hey! What’s your deal?” Hahn whined, ignoring Sokka’s distress. He pointed at his skin. “Is that what you use turn into seals?”

“Yes! How else?” He replied through gritted teeth. “And do you just… go around groping people’s skins like that?”

“I’ve never seen one before” He said. “I didn’t know it was something you could do”

Katara blinked.

Wait.

“What do you mean you didn’t know?” She asked. Hahn turned to her.

“I just never heard about it” He explained. “I thought you were like us”

Katara was about to ask what he meant by that, but before she could get a word out, Sokka jumped at the opportunity:

“Yes! My sister and I here are the only ones in the whole South Pole— perhaps in the whole world, who can do that. And Katara is the magical waterbending one” He raised his hands. “All I’m saying, I need to stay and protect my village, but I’m sure she’ll be free to help in whatever it is that you need”

“I can fight” Katara said. “I know I can. You can’t leave me here”

“Sir” One of the men said, turning to Hahn. “The boy has a point. She could be useful”

Hahn looked at Katara, and Katara looked back. She realized he wasn’t as old as she first thought. He must be around sixteen or seventeen (and Katara wondered why on earth they would call such a baby man ‘sir’), but still held himself as if he was chief of the tribe. She found this arrogant and insulting.

“You can do this at any time?” He asked.

“Yes. Even in land” Katara replied. “Not that I would want to, but I could”

“Even without a full moon?”

“Yes!” She repeated, crossing her arms. “I can do it whenever I want”

Hahn nodded.

“I see” He said. He looked at his men. “We’ll see about waterbending” He turned to her. “But I guess you could make a good scout. Maybe a spy”

A spy!

Suddenly, every dark cloud in her head disappeared and the world was bright again. She couldn’t believe her ears. They said yes! She was going to the North Pole!

She hugged Sokka tighter than she ever had. She could feel the soft hairs of his sealskin under her fingertips. Like hers, it was still pure white, because they were children. He might be a big jerk sometimes, but she was going to miss him. And what he was doing for her was really nice.

“Are you sure you have everything under control?”

“Don’t worry about us” He said, pulling back. “We’ll be okay. Besides, I still have Gran-Gran with me”

She saw something curious on the white fur, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Sokka, you have a dot!” She exclaimed, pointing at a grey spot in his sealskin.

“I do?” He looked at the spot she was pointing to. He let out a very unmanly squeal. “I have a dot! I’m a _man_ now!”

Katara considered teasing him, but ultimately decided against it. She had something else in mind.

“I wish mom was here” She said.

Sokka’s smile dropped.

“Me too” He said. “You know, I know I don’t say this a lot, but she’d be proud of you”

Katara smiled and hugged him again so he wouldn’t have to see her cry.

Sokka left shortly after, jumping into the sea. They showed her where she would sleep— in the kitchen, in a bedroll, because everyone in the sleeping quarters were men. She didn’t know how she felt about it, but she decided it was for the best, if these men were okay with feeling up other people’s sealskins. When she saw Hahn’s hands on Sokka’s pelt, she nearly jumped out of her skin. The image was nauseating. To touch someone else’s skin without their consent was the greatest taboo in her village. Everyone knew not to touch them. Her mother used to tell her and Sokka about the importance of this rule. She would wrap her owl sealskin around them when they were little, as a blanket, but always remind them that they could touch her sealskin because they were her children. The only other person allowed to do such a thing was her husband and her own mother. If anyone asked to touch their skins, or attempted to do so, they had to _run,_ run as far away from that person as possible and never see them again.

Katara thought about this as she tried to sleep. She didn’t know if the northerners would be amazed by the exoticism of her sealskin to the point of crossing every boundary and trying to touch it, like Hahn did. Just sharing a boat with him already made her anxious. What if he got curious and tried to grab it?

She gripped it close to her chest and stayed awake all night.

**海豹精**

It took Katara half a year to convince Master Pakku to teach her waterbending. It took three duels against him (all of which Katara lost), eight fights against Pakku’s students and two victorious missions that couldn’t have been accomplished without Katara for the old man to accept her as a student.

But, of course, the straw that broke the polar camel’s back was her encounter with the Blue Dragon.

By the time she started training, she’d already been to multiple missions alongside the warriors of the tribe. Her job was quite simple: get into her sealskin, travel southwest, spotting Fire Nation warships and returning in time to report to Chief Arnook the details of what she’d seen. Her first mission had been the second most terrifying moment of her life, when a firebender saw her in the water. She thought she was going to die, but he only saw a harp seal pup, not a warrior. He even threw some food at her, which she ignored completely. After that, it became much easier.

First thing to consider: The Northerners were the people of the ice and the snow. They lived between two glaciers and raised houses out of ice. And when the full moon came, the lucky ones shifted into giant, beautiful wolves. Some of them, like Princess Yue, were white as snow, while others had fur as black as night, and most lied somewhere in between. They ran the vast fields of ice and snow, covering every inch of the northern tundra. The warriors wore iron helmets handcrafted by the women, in the shape of a wolf’s head, the jaws open wide to expose their faces. They used armors, ships and cannons. They had walls and channels and cities through the entire North Pole, but the capital was just behind the Southern Wall, and it was the most beautiful place Katara has ever seen. The ice palace rose tall above the city, watching over its citizens and casting a shadow against the eternal summer sun. While the South was under the shadow of the night, the North was constantly illuminated by the sun. It surprised Katara to see the sun in the middle of winter at first, but she got used to the cycle after the first year. It was no different from the South, really. And that brought some comfort.

Because the North was much harsher than the South. She didn’t remember the men of her tribe to be as rude and disrespectful as the Northern men were. They liked to interrupt her midsentence to bring up a completely different subject, as if she wasn’t even there. And when they did listen to her, their responses came in the form of rebuttals and dismissive replies. She quickly found that it was pointless to try to talk to the men, or to try to meet boys of her age. Her best friend in the North, as it was expected, turned out to be a girl.

Yue, the Northern Princess, the White Wolf. Katara befriended her almost on accident. As she was the daughter of Chief Hakoda, Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe invited her for dinner upon her arrival the North. He was very welcoming, and he explained the different customs and traditions of the North that she was expected to partake into. He wasn’t particularly attentive, but he was the man that interrupted her the least times. She ate better than she had in years then. She later met with Yue in the balcony, and they talked a lot. Katara was mildly intimidated by the title of ‘Princess’, but soon realized there was no difference between Yue and her. They were both the daughters of the chiefs of their respective tribes, and that put them in equal footing. Katara wondered at some point if being the daughter of the Chief made _her_ a princess, but as she started to now Yue better, she decided she didn’t want to be a princess if that meant being treated like an ice doll, too pretty, delicate and useless to do anything. If she was meant to be a princess, she would first be a Master Waterbender.

Her friendship with Yue brought her great comfort, and she was glad to see that Yue found comfort in her, too. She told Katara once that she was the first person to ever treat her as an equal. Her parents overprotected her, he men pursued her, and her friends always seemed fake and nervous around her, scared of messing up in front of the princess. It was all a big performance. But Katara didn’t care about any of that. She told her things about the North that her father had overlooked, like the pine trees that grew in the western coast and the summer thunderstorms she liked to observe from her window.

“Do you have thunderstorms in the south?” She asked. Katara shook her head.

“No. The air is far too dry” she explained. “I only saw lightning once”

“When we have thunderstorm, waterbending practice is cancelled” Yue explained. “Because the lightning travels through the water, and it can be dangerous”

She was also the only person to ask about Southern culture. Yue was interested in knowing about the animals and the landscapes and the food. She asked her about the people, and Katara was able to tell her the names, ages and favorite food of every single person in the South Pole. She guessed there must be thirteen individuals now that she was gone. Yue was particularly interested in her life as the Chief’s daughter. She was blown away by the notion that Katara was expected to fish just like her brother, even if she wasn’t particularly good at it. Katara knew how to handle a knife and cut open a penguin-otter to eat, while Yue had never seen blood in her life. She was given chores such as cooking and cleaning and stitching and taking care of the sick, and when she got a free moment, she used it to practice her waterbending. She gave Yue a poor demonstration of her capabilities, which resulted to be quite embarrassing, but Yue’s eyes were wide open in awe.

“I’ve never seen a woman waterbending before” She confessed. “Is Master Pakku going to teach you?”

“He _better_ teach me” Katara said. “I didn’t come all the way from the South Pole just so he can turn me away”

Of course, Pakku turned her away.

“By demanding I teach you” He said. “You’re disrespecting my entire nation”

He expected her to become a healer, and while Katara took some classes with Yugoda, she didn’t seem to have the talent for it. The water in her hands didn’t quite respond to her. Other girls could heal a broken rib in a matter of minutes, but Katara couldn’t fix a simple paper cut. One day, she remembered Zuko, the Fire Prince who had broken into her home, lied to her face and taken advantage of her generosity for his vile Fire Nation purposes. She had covered him in her sealskin and that saved his sorry life. She talked to Yugoda about this one day, and while she seemed happy with the news, she couldn’t find an explanation. She did ask Katara to bring her sealskin to the next class, so they can figure out how it worked, but the idea of passing her skin around for everyone to touch made her feel sick. That was the last class she took with Yugoda.

She demanded that Pakku taught her martial waterbending.

“No!” He repeated. “How many times do I have to tell you? With that attitude, you would make a terrible waterbender!”

“But I’m the _only_ waterbender from the South Pole!” She countered. “I _need_ to learn so I can teach the next generation!”

“Well, when you have sons, they’ll be more than welcome to train here” Pakku said. “Until then, you should study with Yugoda. She says you must stop skipping class”

This was Katara’s great frustration in the North Pole. She traveled to learn waterbending. _Real_ waterbending. The idea that women wouldn’t make good waterbenders was baffling How many great female warriors was the tribe missing because of their stupid customs?

At least they allowed her to practice by herself. While people shook their heads at her and gave her disapproving looks, no one formally forbid her from waterbending. The only ones who said anything were Pakku’s young students who cornered her in the streets, but they were clumsy and incompetent, and Katara could easily get away when fighting proved futile by jumping into one of the channels that ran through the city. She once caught Pakku observing her from one of the bridges as one of his students got his butt handed to him. Katara couldn’t see his expression in the darkness and from the distance, but she guessed it wasn’t good.

But while they refused to teach her waterbending, that didn’t mean they left her out of the fun entirely. She was the _only_ person with a sealskin in the North. Woman or not, she could prove herself useful.

The first missions consisted on scouting the area around the North Pole, traveling for days at a time in her sealskin, looking for Fire Nation ships and reporting back to base. After the first big scare, she became more confident on the idea that firebenders literally didn’t know she was anything more than a seal pup, and she ventured closer to their ships, swam much further, observed for longer. In time, her greatest concern stopped being the firebenders. She was more worried about the whaler and sealer boats.

During her first months in the Northern Tribe, she spotted three Fire Nation convoys heading north almos one week earlier than any northern man could. She overheard conversations about surprise attacks and ambushes and brought the information back to Chief Arnook.

“Look, this is a simple mission” she had heard one firebender said to another. “We get in, we find the kid, and then we go home. No need to make a fuss”

“They’re heading to the North Pole” Katara said to Chief Arnook. “They’re three days away. If we send a team now, we can stop them”

And, as always, a team traveled south, raising a wall of mist and taking out the enemy ship before they even saw what hit them.

After this particular event, Chief Arnook trusted her with a new type of mission: Not only she would follow the convoys, listen the conversations and bring back all the information she could get, but she would also follow the warriors in the attack, creating distractions and healing the wounded soldiers.

“Yugoda tells me that you have a rather… particular method of healing” He said. “She would be happy to explore it further with you”

The idea of putting her sealskin over someone else’s naked body repulsed her, but if someone’s life was on the line, she wouldn’t have much choice.

“If I knew martial waterbending, I could do my job much more easily” She suggested. Chief Arnook scratched his chin.

“Go talk to Master Pakku about it” He said. “I’ll respect his decision”

It was a good thing that _someone_ respected Master Pakku’s decision, because Katara sure didn’t.

“No” Master Pakku replied when Katara went to ask him. “Don’t ask me again”

“This is a stupid rule” Katara complained. “You could have so many more warriors if you only let us fight!”

“Oh, so you want to fight?” Pakku rose to his feet, standing tall above Katara. “You want to put your life on the line? You want to die in the battlefield?”

“I want to fight back against the Fire Nation just as much as you do” Katara said. “And I’m sure most women here think the same”

“This isn’t about what you or the women want, little girl” Pakku said. “It’s not even about what the men want. Why do you think we were so desperate to look for waterbenders in the South Pole?”

Katara didn’t know the answer, and Pakku took her silence as an invitation to continue:

“Because our warriors are dying like fish” He said. “You haven’t seen a real battle yet. Once you do, you’ll understand. And hopefully you’ll stop pestering me with that question”

“So that’s it” Katara stated. “You think you’re trying to protect the women”

“You say that as if it was a bad thing” Pakku argued. “All of these women are mothers, wives and daughters. The last thing us men want is to see them hurt” He started to walk away, leaving Katara alone in the training arena. “One day you’ll understand”

And perhaps she did _understand_ , some day in the future. But she would never really _agree_.

The missions they trusted her with were a privilege. Most women didn’t have the autonomy or the freedom that she had. Their fathers and husbands were very controlling, and many didn’t allow them to leave the city. When she returned to the healing huts to resume her medical training, the young girls looked at her with admiration and awe. They asked her what it was like to go on missions, to turn into a seal and to be so close to _where things happened_. _‘Where things happened’_ was the name they gave to anything that was important: the war, the Chief, the warriors… basically all of the _action_. She could see many girls were just as eager to fight as she was, and she silently promised she would fight for all of them to learn martial waterbending.

The next convoy she encountered was dangerously close to the coast. It was winter already, and the moon never set. It was traveling towards the westernmost extreme of the North Pole, and Katara understood that they were planning to disembark far away from the capital and organize an attack by land. She raced back to the city, warned Chief Arnook, and he organized a party of wolf warriors to meet the enemy halfway, while the rest secured the city and got ready for an attack. For all they knew, the ships in the west may be just a distraction.

Katara met the warriors in the outsides of the city, wearing only her sealskin coat. They were looking at her in a strange way, and when she asked about it, one of them replied:

“We’re waiting. Lead the way”

Her heart filled with pride at those words. She would show them how great a warrior she _could_ be. She jumped into the sea and into her sealskin and started swimming towards the west. When she raised her head above the water, she saw a pack of wolves running by the coast, followed closely by warriors armed with spears, bows and waterskins. And Katara was leading the attack. This was her opportunity to prove herself.

She was ready to fight.

She swam for hours under the winter moon that never set, decided not to let the others realize she was tired. She couldn’t even tell how much time had passed when she saw the ships on the coast: three monsters of steel vomiting clouds of black smoke. She stopped and got out of the water.

“That’s where they are” She said, pointing west. They were so far, the ships looked like tiny black dots on the landscape, with columns of smoke rising into the sky.

“They sure are mounting a show” Someone said. Katara turned to find Hahn standing behind her.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“I mean that this isn’t exactly a sneak attack” He said dismissively. “You wouldn’t understand”

The waterbenders raised their arms, and the black clouds above twisted into snow. Soon, the storm was such that Katara couldn’t see past her nose. They sent a party of four men to investigate, and they quickly shed their armors and turned into white wolves. They were near invisible in the snow.

“I’m going” Katara said, gripping her sealskin and walking towards the water.

“No” Hahn warned her. “You stay here”

Katara wanted to disobey _just_ because if was Hahn giving the order, but she realized no one else was going, either. Okay, she would wait until the white wolves came back. _Then_ , she would go check by herself.

Meanwhile, the warriors waited in silence. They didn’t start a fire or turn on an oil lamp, so they wouldn’t risk being spotted. And with the clouds covering the sky, they were drowned in a perpetual darkness, without moon or the Northern Lights. It was like being blinded. Katara looked at the sky, trying to see the moonlight seeping through the clouds, but she was met with nothingness.

She gripped her sealskin tighter. It had been winter when she left the South Pole. And now it was winter in the North, which meant she’d been away from home for six months.

She wished she could send letters to Sokka, to see if he was okay, if he had learned to wash his own clothes and if Gran-Gran was doing alright.

But all she could do now was to watch the sky and pretend it was the same sky from home.

A flash.

Wait. She’d seen that flash before.

A split-second light, and then…

There it was. Thunder, roaring in the distance. All the warriors started to mumble nervously.

“It can’t be…”

“Lightning in snow?”

Katara straightened her back and looked more carefully.

Another lightning. It illuminated the sky for a moment. And there was a dark, quick shadow moving in the clouds.

It had been a year, and Katara was now twelve years old, but she would recognize that shadow anywhere.

She kept her eyes in the sky, trying to see _something_ , to identify that shape and understand.

And then the white wolves came back. They could see them running back towards the camp through the snow. All the warriors stood straight, holding their spears ready to meet them, but then there was another flash. No lightning, no. It was warmer.

A wall of fire shot forward. A waterbender raised the snow into water and extinguished the flames. But the firebenders didn’t relent. They jumped over the charred wolf corpses and fired. The waterbenders jumped into first line of defense. Walls of ice and fire clashed viciously as screams rose into the storm. The spearmen roared and charged, fighting in the way only water tribesmen dared to do. They dodged tongues of fire and struck their opponents with blades. Wolves pounced and attacked, tearing the flesh apart. Flames swirled and Katara raised her arms, side by side with the other waterbenders, and the snow followed her movements and blocked the attack.

She was in a battle. She was fighting. She could do it.

A waterbender twisted the snow under him into a million ice daggers, and Katara imitated him. She spun and pulled the water and then willed it to _freeze_ , her arms forward, and the splinters hit a firebender in the face. It didn’t kill him, but it made him stumble. A wolf pounced on him and finished the job.

It was a massacre. Blood spilled over the snow but Katara couldn’t tell what party was the one bleeding. She charged forward, like her fellow waterbenders, fighting with all her might. Whips of water. Daggers of ice. A brutal blow of pure snow. A firebender charged towards her. She froze the snow under his feet. He slipped in the ice.

Her heart beat so quickly she feared it would jump out of her chest. This was like the last raid. Firebenders charging and burning and destroying everything they found. Just like when Mom died.

She roared and shot spikes of ice. They didn’t hit anything. She didn’t care. She didn’t even see it. She spotted the next firebender and bent ice daggers at him. She didn’t stop to check if he was dead, or if she had even hit him. She moved to the next one.

_For Mom._

And then a thunder. It was the loudest thing she ever heard, so loud it would pop her inner ear like a tiny bag of blood. It lasted forever, and it kept growing and growing, and she understood it wasn’t a thunder.

And when she turned around, she did so just in time to see the Blue Dragon.

It was a giant snake, with claws and teeth sharp as steel and wings so big that they covered the entire sky. A dark mane crowned its head and ran down its spine from neck to tail. And its head… its head was the most disgusting thing she’d ever seen. With yellow eyes, excrescent tusks and a scrunched snout, with long whiskers that looked like wet living eels. The sight kicked the air out of her lungs.

The dragon flew right past them, close to the ground. It didn’t breathe fire or attack the waterbenders. It had a different objective in mind.

It was going east, towards the capital city.

It was a distraction. Everything… the firebenders were meant to take out the elite team, but the dragon was the real weapon.

Katara didn’t even think. There was snow beneath her feet— water, she could do it.

She made the ice and the snow propel her forward. She clumsily bent the water and yelled at the dragon, trying to catch its attention. She managed to summon a narrow whip and hit the beast, who finally turned to see her.

Its golden eyes stared deep into her soul, like it could read every memory, fear and pain in her with only one look.

Spikes of ice shot up and encased its wing. Some waterbenders had followed her. The dragon breathed a thin string of blue fire but they responded with a wall of ice. The wing broke free. The swipe of a tail, the flapping of wings. The monster rose into the air. It was quick and deadly, like lightning. It opened its mouth. Katara was the only one to see it in time.

_“When we have thunderstorm, waterbending practice is cancelled”_

Sparks formed inside its jaws. They were surrounded by snow. Water.

For the first time, thunder and lightning roared together. It was the mortal, cold blooded flash of a firebender. This was how the story ended.

And then Katara twisted her arms. She pulled the water with her and met the flash halfway. Another twist. And the water hit the dragon.

It carried with it all the deadly electricity of its own lightning bolt. It struck it as if it had struck itself. The monster roared with the pain of a thousand thunders.

Tongues of smoke rose from its skin. The creature crept away. A wounded animal. It couldn’t move its wings. 

It crawled into the sea, quick as a flash, and dove into the water in terror. It ran away with its tail between its legs, like the animal it was. The thunder and lightning was gone.

Katara looked down at her hands.

She had defeated a dragon.

**海豹精**

The Blue Dragon didn’t come back after that. They held a ceremony to honor the fallen warriors, and to celebrate the return of the surviving ones. At some point, Yue spotted Katara and tackled her into a hug.

“I heard about what you did” She said. “You killed a dragon!”

They were talking about it in the tribe. How a small girl defeated the Blue Dragon. Katara didn’t even pretend to be humble. She embraced the praise with pride. She even overheard someone call her _‘the greatest waterbender I’ve ever seen’._ Katara smiled and thought _‘you’re right. I am’._

She still had a lot (everything) to learn, of course. And if she got serious, she would admit that striking down the dragon had been mostly luck.

But she had taken out a dragon, so she would accept the compliment.

She heard a knock on her door at some point, and when she opened it, she was surprised to find Master Pakku wanting to talk to her.

“I was wrong about you” He confessed. “It would be an honor to have you as my student”

Katara couldn’t believe it. After months of insistence, she made it. Killing the dragon was nothing. _This_ was the best moment in her life.

She was finally going to become a _real_ waterbender.

But first, there was something she had to do.

“You need to let _all_ women practice waterbending” She said. “Not just me”

Master Pakku gave her an unsure look, but eventually, he bulged.

“If _all_ women are as… dedicated as you are, then I might give them a chance”

She started her formal training the next day. Or what she guessed was supposed to be the day. It was winter, after all, and the sun hadn’t risen above the horizon in months. Under the full moon, her power was enhanced. That was the first think Pakku taught her. Next, he taught her how to immobilize an opponent. How to surprise them. How to use every element around you as a weapon. Everything could be turned into a resource. Thinking quickly and recognizing the possibilities was one of the most important lessons to learn as a waterbender. Water was all around you, but it wouldn’t come to your aid on its own. It doesn’t help you out of generosity. You’re not a baby. To make the most out of the water around you depended on your quick wit and intellect.

Katara wasn’t particularly witty, but she had quick reflexes and a strong will.

She trained for hours. Even after the lesson was over, she went to the shore to practice. And when there was someone else up to it, she had waterbending duels in the arena, mostly against Pakku’s old students. Even when it was time to sleep, she still played with water from a bowl next to her bedroll, making shapes, freezing it and melting it until she fell asleep. Waterbending practice became the centerpiece of her life. There wasn’t a moment in which she didn’t think about it and her days consisted on either training in the arena, or looking forward to train in the arena.

Months passed. She still went scouting for ships, but after the dragon, she hadn’t seen much more than the occasional whaler or sealer boat. Her travels were much quicker now that she could properly bend the water around her. She had learned to waterbend even in her sealskin, which came really handy. And, when Master Pakku decided she was ready, half a year after she began her training, she would travel with a party of warriors towards the most threatening convoy at the time. The firebenders only saw a playful white seal observing their ship, but in a split of a second, a girl jumped out of the water, like a whirlwind of spikes and whips. The water flooded the deck. Northern Warriors raised their spears and charged. Inside the ship, the labyrinth of pipes were filled with water, to keep the engine going without overheating and to provide something to drink. With a flick of her wrist, it was all frozen in the span of a second. The swollen pipes busted at the pressure, the different parts of the ship creaked and dislocated from each other, like a broken metal insect. Waves raised as the boat died, and it sunk in the bottom of the sea in minutes.

Katara thought about her mother the entire time as she watched the sea swallow it.

Most girls were a little shy at the beginning, but soon more and more started to come to Master Pakku’s classes. They were just as good, if not better at times, than the boys. During combats, the boys would usually be hesitant to attack a girl, but the girls were merciless. Soon the boys realized that in order to survive, they needed to be equally ferocious. The combats kept escalating and escalating in violence until both participants had to be taken to the healing huts. Master Pakku was immensely proud of his students.

The only one who didn’t seem the sense the change was Yue. She was still the princess, after all. She was meant to behave, be polite, smile and don’t speak unless spoken to. She could watch the girls and women around her experience a freedom without precedent in the North, but she could only observe from the distance, without actually partaking in it. She was foreign to this change.

She talked about it with Katara one day. They were walking down the shore, in one of the few free moments they both had in the day.

“You’re really lucky” Yue said. “You get to fight and learn waterbending and go wherever you please”

Katara didn’t know what to say to that.

“You should talk to your father” She suggested. “Maybe he’ll let you train with the warriors”

Yue actually laughed at that. She gave Katara a sad, endeared look.

“That’s not how things work here” She said. “You’ve done so much for the women in the North, but I don’t think he would let the princess fight”

It was the end of summer. The sun came closer to the horizon every twenty-four hours, but it didn’t touch it yet.

Katara wished she could fix Yue’s life, but if she couldn’t do it, he would at least give her a few hours of freedom.

The next day, they met at the shore, outside the city. Katara had her sealskin, and Yue had brought the simplest clothes she owned. She wasn’t like the other wolves. She once told Katara the story of her birth, and her illness, and the moon. While the other wolves could only shift at night, she could do it whenever she pleased, because the moon never left her. It was inside of her.

So she shed her clothes and adopted the form. A beautiful white wolf, a bit smaller than the rest. Katara jumped into the sea and they both raced side by side down the shore, the moon and the sea. That day, Yue didn’t have to be a princess. She could pretend she was a warrior, or a healer, or simply a normal girl, with the freedom to choose who she wanted to be.

They only stopped when the sun reached its lowest point in the sky above the horizon, and Katara realized it was midnight. They were about to turn around and leave, but then Katara saw something strange. It was a small Fire Nation ship. Not even a warship. Just a fishing boat. But it was way nearer than any fishing boats she’d seen before. They’d never dared to come this close to the North Pole.

She looked at Yue. It was in these kinds of moments that she wished she could speak when she was in her sealskin. _“I’m gonna check it out”_ she would say. _“I’ll come back in a minute”._

But of course, she couldn’t speak, and Yue couldn’t understand what was going on in her head. She just hoped her look conveyed her intentions well enough.

Katara dove into the water. She could hear nervous chirping and howling above the surface. It would be quick. She just wanted to make sure it was a harmless fishing boat.

It was smaller than she thought, and it didn’t look at all like a warship. If it hadn’t been for the small Fire Nation flag, she would have mistaken it for an Earth Kingdom boat.

It didn’t look dangerous. The firebenders in the ship weren’t wearing any armor, and there were no cannons or powder barrels. Only a few fishing nets and wooden boxes.

Katara sighed. It was nothing. She was about to go back to the shore when someone spotted her. A young firebender woman.

“Aaaaw” She cooed. No armor. She was wearing fisherman clothes “Look at you. You’re so cute”

Katara immediately dipped her head underwater. Okay. She had to leave.

Then the net appeared. It was shot right in front of her, opening like a hand. Her heart jumped. The ropes tightened and pulled her backwards. She tried to fight, waterbend the net _away_ from her, but she couldn’t do it without hands.

The net raised her above the water just as she shed her sealskin.

“We found her!” The firebender woman exclaimed. “It’s the selkie!”

“Take her coat!”

Katara gripped her skin and raised the water. She snapped her hand across the net, like a claw. Sharp whips of water cut through the ropes, letting her fall back into the sea.

_‘It’s the selkie’._

She didn’t wait a second. As soon as she hit the water, she got into her sealskin and swum far away from that boat. Something there disturbed her way more than the battles and violence in the warships.

Upon returning to the city, she told Yue about it.

“I think they wanted to take me” She said. “They said something about… taking my coat”

She gripped her skin tightly against her chest. If the idea of someone touching her coat repulsed her, someone _taking it away from her_ was like a scene from her worst nightmares. A perverse violation of the most important boundaries that existed.

Yue insisted they told her father about it. Chief Arnook seemed quite concerned.

“And you say they wanted to take _you_ , specifically?” He asked. Katara nodded.

“Yes. And they called me a… selkie, or something” She said. “Do you know what that means?”

Chief Arnook shook his head.

“I thought you may know” He said. “In our tribe, those blessed by Tui with the ability to turn into wolves under his light used to be called ‘werewolves’. We’ve abandoned that term a long time ago. Perhaps ‘selkie’ was the word used for people like you and your brother”

Katara rolled the word in her tongue. ‘Selkie’. So, that’s what she was? A selkie?

It was strange to think of herself with a new word. It made her feel different from the rest of her tribe. There were the selkies and the non-selkies. She’d never paid much attention to that distinction before and she wasn’t about to start now.

“Why would they want to take _me_?” She asked.

“Well, you slayed their dragon” he argued.

“But how do they know I’m a… selkie?” She asked. “It doesn’t make sense”

Chief Arnook nodded thoughtfully.

“I wish I knew” He said. Katara had the impression he wasn’t telling her everything.

She was a little jumpy during her next training session. The spikes of ice were sharper. The water whips flew quicker. She never let the opponent get too close.

They wanted to take her.

Was it because they’d seen her spying on them? Did they recognize her already? Did that mean she wouldn’t be scouting anymore?

They’d put her in a net. Like a fish. They wanted to take her coat.

She wasn’t letting them trap her again.

This encounter marked the end of her career as a spy. While she still went with the warriors to meet the enemy halfway, she stopped scouting the Northern Sea. Chief Arnook’s orders. But you really wouldn’t notice a decrease in activity. While the scouting missions stopped, the fighting grew. By the middle of winter, Katara would leave almost every week to stop Fire Nation ships. When a year earlier she wouldn’t have seen a ship in months, now the Fire Nation navy was surrounding them. The scouts intercepted different attacks coming from the west and east flank in the same week. The battles became bigger and bloodier. The nights of peace were over. Soon, it was nearly a siege. The metal ships crashed against icebergs and glaciers. Explosions thundered against the walls of the city. For one hundred years, the Fire Nation had left the North Pole mostly alone. Now, they decided to hit them with their worst attacks. And Katara wondered why.

One day, she asked Chief Arnook what had changed. Why wait until now. Chief Arnook gave her a sad look and dismissed everyone else in the throne room.

“I guess I should have told you earlier” He said. “I honestly didn’t think it would get this bad. I overestimated our defenses and underestimated the enemy. Even after that dragon, I thought we could handle everything they threw at us”

“But you were wrong” Katara pointed out. “Weren’t you?”

Chief Arnook nodded sadly.

“Something happened, around two years ago” He said. “Maybe months before you came here. Come with me. Let me show you”

He led through a wooden door outside the palace, down the hall of ice corridors. The air was weirdly warm, and Katara ended up taking off her parka, finding that she was perfectly fine with only her dress.

“This is the Spirit Oasis” Chief Arnook said.

It was a clearing inside the glacier, where it was warmer than anywhere else in the North Pole. Warm enough for plants to grow. Bushes and flowers bloomed around the centerpiece of the shrine: a small pond of water. As she came closer, Katara saw what was inside. Two koi fishes. One was white with a black patch on top of its head, and the other was black with a white spot.

“When my daughter was born” Chief Arnook began. “She was deadly sick. We didn’t think she’d make it. We took her to every healer in every city in the North Pole, but there was nothing they could do. As a last resource, my wife and I prayed to the Moon Spirit. We bathed her in this very same pond. Her hair turned white. And she lived”

Katara observed the two fishes, swimming around each other.

“Yue told me about that” She said. She looked at the Chief. “But what does that have to do with the Fire Nation attacking us?”

“There is more to these fish that you think” He said. “It is said that the night Avatar Kuruk was born, they shared with our shamans a secret, telling them about the rebirth of the new Avatar into the Water Tribe” His expression turned somber. “I thought it was a legend. Avatar Kuruk was known for his flamboyance, and this sounded like the kind of stories he would make up” He made a pause to look at Katara. “But two years ago, they talked to the shamans again”

Her eyes widened.

“What?”

“They believe the Avatar has returned” He said. “And he’s in the Water Tribe. The Fire Sages have their own way to tell when the Avatar is born, and they must have figured the last airbending Avatar has finally died, only to return in our tribe”

But something didn’t make sense.

“But if the Avatar is in the Water Tribe now” She started. “They could be in the South Pole, too”

Chief Arnook.

“It’s possible” He said.

Wait.

No. No, no way.

“Then the Fire Nation…” Her heart beat painfully in her chest. “Did you send anyone to defend the South Pole?”

“I’m afraid we can’t afford to lose any more warriors” He said. “We have to take care of our own”

“But _we_ are your own!” Katara protested. “How could you just leave us?”

Chief Arnook gave her a stern look. He had been very patient with her, but he was getting tired of being defied.

“I’m sure the warriors of your tribe can fight for themselves. If I could help them…”

“There are no warriors in the South Pole! My brother is alone. Everyone left to fight the war while _your_ people stayed here” because it was true, wasn’t it? Why did her father leave while Chief Arnook sat on his throne? Why did the nation without benders put up a fight alone?

Why did they let the Fire Nation raid them until there was nothing left?

“Don’t pretend that you care about us” Katara said. “You never wanted to help”

She turned around and walked away. She was done there.

“Do not turn your back on me, young lady!” Arnook ordered, finally losing his temper. “Come back and apologize!”

She should demand the same from him.

Later that night, she packed up everything she couldn’t live without and wrapped her sealskin around her shoulders. She was a master waterbender now. A true warrior. And her tribe needed her.

She said her goodbyes to Yue and to Master Pakku. As expected, they both tried to stop her, but to no avail. She gave the North Pole one last look charged with nostalgia and betrayal. She’d lived there for a year and a half, but it never felt quite like home.

Katara was thirteen years old when she left the North Pole. She got into her sealskin and jumped into the waves, carrying her few belongings in a leather bag that she held between her teeth as she swam south, deep below the surface, avoiding every ship above her. She swam for hours, until she physically couldn’t keep her eyes open and she was forced to stop. She slept inside her sealskin, in the northern Earth Kingdom shore.

She continued for days, stopping only to sleep and to eat whatever raw fish she could catch. The waters became warmer as she traveled south, but the number of commercial boats and warships grew. It was almost impossible to sleep, because of fear of being seen. If they were looking for a _‘selkie’_ , any seal in equatorial latitudes would raise suspicions. One night, she decided to go into a coastal village and rent a hotel room. She slept better than she had in days.

After that, she decided it would do no harm to sleep in a bed at night, _out_ of her sealskin. So she traveled all day through the sea and when she couldn’t move anymore, she rested in land. For days she didn’t stop thinking about her tribe, or her brother trying to protect everyone on his own, or the raids that took her mother away.

She couldn’t lose Sokka, too.

Her stays at the Earth Kingdom coastal cities became shorter. She rushed through the markets and slept as little as possible. At some point, she crashed against a sailor with a basket full of fish, and his merchandise was spilled all over the ground. The street monkey-dogs pounced on their new meal and soon there was nothing left. The sailor and his partners chased her all over the market and she could only lose them when she hid in the water and continued her journey.

Or so she thought, because that night, she swam past a small sailboat by the shore. She didn’t think much of it, until she heard them yelling.

“Hey! Is that the seal?”

Before she could get away, the net was thrown and they were getting her out of the water. It was okay. She had it under control. She just needed to bend some water and…

A sudden sting hit her neck. She covered the spot with her hand, and for the first time that night she felt real fear. She twisted and shifted and tried to bend the water, but it didn’t respond to her. Her sight was becoming blurry.

“Don’t like chi blockers?” One of the sailors snickered. “Don’t mess with the Fire Nation”

No, no. This couldn’t be happening. She swore she wouldn’t let them catch her…

They dropped her on deck like a dead weight. She tried to tear the net apart. It didn’t work. There was yelling. Her heart raced. Suddenly a hand grabbed her sealskin and ripped it away from her.

She screamed. They were _touching_ her skin. She could _feel_ it. Like fingers running down her body.

“Stop that!” She demanded. “Give it back!”

“Take her below deck” The man said. He waved her skin like a trophy. “I’ll take this”

She tried to get up, but her muscles were numb. Someone yanked at the net and it dragged her across the deck. She dug her nails into the floorboards. Someone kicked her hand and she let go with a cry of pain.

They locked her in a dark room. She trashed and struggled but the lock wouldn’t bulge. It couldn’t be happening. No, no, they couldn’t have taken her skin. She could still feel those fingers on it, picking at the hairs and fondling the fur. She felt so sick she ended up throwing up. Her hands instinctively tried to reach for _something_ , almost expecting to find it around her shoulders, but she only found the old grey rags they gave her to dress herself.

She pressed her palms against the floorboards and tried to feel the water outside. She was below deck. She was surrounded by water, right? All she needed to do was to break the wood and she’d be free.

But she didn’t feel… anything. Her heart picked up. She couldn’t feel the water. That had never happened to her. Even before she started her training, she could still _feel_ the water around her. _All_ around her. She lived in the ice and she always had water within easy reach.

Now it was right there, right past the floorboards, but she couldn’t reach it. She moved her arms, but it wouldn’t bend no matter how hard she tried.

The sting in her neck… she touched the spot and saw the tiniest drops of blood staining her fingers. They must have hit her with… a dart, or something. ‘Chi blockers’.

In a matter of minutes, they took away her skin, her bending and her freedom. They took everything so easily…

After a while, she stopped. She couldn’t waterbend. She was trapped. They caught her and now she couldn’t go help her brother or her tribe. In the end, she’d abandoned them.

She slid down to the ground and curled up with her knees against her chest. She tried her best not to cry, but the tears fell anyways. She tried to bend them, but they didn’t respond to her anymore.

Had she lost her bending forever?

No one should have the power to take bending away. It was… wrong. They took a part of her. Without her waterbending, she was helpless.

And without her skin, she was incomplete. She felt like they had ripped her soul out of her body and locked it inside a metal chest, away from her. The sight of the man’s hands on it plagued her mind and it made her sick.

She _did_ end up crying that night, feeling assaulted and violated. She held onto her clothes like she held onto her coat, trying to pretend she still had it with her.

“I’m sorry, Sokka” she mumbled.

**海豹精**

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but after what felt like weeks, they opened the door and pulled her out of the cell. She could see the sea as they made her walk down the deck, but when she tried to bend it, it didn’t respond. She told herself everything they fed her had chi blockers.

They put cuffs in her wrists and guided her onto the dock and towards another ship, across the pier. It was a metal giant, in contrast with the wooden fishing sailboat they kept her in. The pipes spewed black smoke.

There was someone waiting for her in front of the bridge. One of the sailors carried a bid metal box to this person and handed it to them. A bag of gold was exchanged.

It was a woman, Katara noticed. She was wearing Fire Nation armor, and she held herself like a real general, despite not being taller than her. Her gaze was nailed to her, digging into her mind.

She took the box and opened it. And from it, she produced the white sealskin. Katara tensed up. The woman held the skin carefully, but tight enough to keep it to herself. She squeezed it.

“You” She said, looking at Katara. “Come here”

Katara obeyed without a thought. She had no problems with complying.

_(Wait…)_

Her eyes were bright golden, cold and calculating. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen them before.

“Tell me your name” The woman ordered.

She was pleased to reply.

“Katara”

“Katara, you may refer to me as Princess Azula” She said. “You will be coming with me. And I assure you: as long as you behave and do as I said, you will reach port unharmed”

The Princess squeezed her sealskin and started to climb up the bridge to her ship. Katara flinched. What was she doing?

“No” Katara said.

The Princess stopped.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you well. “What did you say?”

“I’m not going anywhere with you” Katara stated. She gestured at her skin. “Now give that back!”

The Princess smirked. She took a step towards her.

“Tell me one thing, Katara” She said. “If I gave you this pelt and let you go, would you get home in time to warn everyone?” She asked. “Do you think you’ll get there faster than us?”

Katara clenched her fists.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t be so careless with your loved ones’ lives” the Princess continued. “But then again, I’m not the one in a precarious situation right now. I’m feeling generous today, so I’ll let you choose. But make up your mind quick”

She turned her back to Katara and walked up the bridge. The Fire Nation soldiers stood along the pier, ready to strike at the first order.

She sighed. Her skin was still on the Princess’ hands.

She followed her onto the deck. The Princess smirked.

“Set course to Whaletail Island” She told the captain. “And ready a hawk. I have a letter to send”

**海豹精**

The Princess kept her sealskin, as expected. Katara didn’t know where she hid it. She was locked below deck, unable to see the sun or the moon, in a small room with a bed and a bathroom. The hallways were wide and tall enough for a whole komodo rhino to walk through them. She was given red Fire Nation clothes, which she had no option but to wear. And all the food she was given left a strange sweet aftertaste. Even the water tasted strange. Every time she was offered a bottle of water, it was like being mocked, humiliated. If she had her bending, she could have taken the Princess out in minutes, like she’d taken out the Blue Dragon. They were holding her freedom right above her head and laughing at her when she tried to reach it.

The bed was comfortable, which wasn’t so bad, but the door was constantly locked. The only instances in which she could leave were for dinner, because the Princess always demanded her presence. The first night, she welcomed Katara with a big feast.

“It’s in my brother’s honor” She explained sardonically. Katara choked on her drink.

 _Zuko_.

She hadn’t thought about Zuko in… a very long time. It had been over two years since she’d last seen him, and she could barely remember his face past the horrible scar on his eye.

“He’s very fond on you, you know” She said. “He used to talk about you all the time”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Katara said.

The Princess smirked.

“Don’t play dumb, Katara. I know you’re not dumb” She poured water in her glass. “It doesn’t take much smarts to earn his trust, but I can tell you’re different”

“I haven’t seen Zuko in years” Katara said. “He lied to me. He took advantage of our hospitality, and then he left when we found out who he was”

The princess stared at her thoughtfully, and it suddenly _clicked_. She knew where she’d seen those eyes before.

“But that’s only part of the story, isn’t it?” The Princess taunted. “Or has his weakness brought shame to you as well?”

Katara was starting to think there was something bigger going on.

She spent her days in her room, trying to waterbend with her sweat, her tears, the drops of water left from her last meal. One day, she resolved to stop eating, hoping the effect of the chi blockers would wash off and she’d be able to make a break. But by the third day, the thirst became unbearable.

“You wouldn’t want your loved ones to think you abandoned them, would you?” The Princess said.

Katara didn’t have much choice but to resume eating.

But even if the chi blockers washed off, she still needed to get her skin. She had no idea where it could be and whenever she was allowed to leave her cell, she was escorted by guards to the dining room and back. It wasn’t as if she had the time and space to explore the ship.

She deduced it must be in the Princess’ bedchambers, but the more she heard her talk the more convinced she was that keeping the skin in her bedchambers would be way too obvious. So _even if_ she managed to get there without being seen, chances were she wouldn’t find it. And she didn’t have a map of the ship to figure out the different rooms where they could keep it. She didn’t feel like it was being touched. That meant they weren’t moving it around, right?

She wished Sokka was there. He was the plan guy. He would figure out the most intricate escape plan in history and get them out in minutes.

What would Sokka do?

“We need to check their defenses” Sokka would say (would he?). “Take note of their patrolling patterns, the exits, where they keep the dragons… you know, the basics”

So Katara spent all night listening to the moving and shifting outside her door. Or at least she tried to, because she fell asleep after a few hours. She knew there was a guard shift at… some point. Maybe at midnight? Or was it at sunset? Her cell had no windows. She couldn’t tell.

The Princess was trying to get information out of her. That was quite evident.

“It must have been hard” she said. “Being the last waterbender of your tribe”

“There would be more of us if weren’t for the raids” Katara said through gritted teeth. “We were fine until the Fire Nation showed up”

The Princess gave her that _look_ , her yellow viper eyes reading her mind.

“I don’t owe explanations to peasants” she said. “You wouldn’t understand our reasons anyway”

It took every ounce of self restrain not to strangle Azula in that very moment. She thought she was so intelligent, such a good manipulator, but she was as cruel and stupid as any other firebender.

“Oh, I do understand!” Katara shouted, quickly standing up. “You think you can take whatever you want from us, because that’s all you care about! Power!

The Princess clapped.

She really just clapped, humiliating Katara with every smack of her hands.

“That was a great performance, Katara” She said. “Now please, sit down. Dinner’s not over yet”

It took Katara a moment to realize this was her whole plan. She wanted to get her worked up and Katara was letting her win. She was so stupid.

That night, she slid a chopstick into her sleeve, keeping it hidden until she was back in her cell. She tried to pick the lock with it, but to no avail. Suddenly, the door slammed open.

“I wouldn’t test the Princess’ patience if I were you” He warned. “You could get everyone thrown overboard”

The door slammed shut.

Being thrown overboard sounded exactly like her plan. If only she could get a key…

The next night, when they escorted her to dinner, she realized that if she wanted to get out, she needed to play the Princess’ game. She needed to know what she wanted from her. Of course, asking directly wouldn’t take her anywhere, so she had to get creative.

“When was the last time you saw Zuko?” She asked.

Azula raised an eyebrow.

“Didn’t he tell you?” She asked. “Well, I’m not surprised. He’s always been jealous of me”

“Really?”

“And he had every reason to” Azula continued. “His firebending was never anything impressive. He would always humiliate himself in front of our grandfather trying to imitate me”

Katara looked down at her glass of water.

“You must be a great firebender” She said.

“I have to be” Azula replied. “Anyways, it must have been a year ago, after he came crawling back into the palace. Our uncle convinced my father to give him another chance. What a fool”

“But you’re looking for him now, aren’t you?”

Azula smirked.

“I knew you weren’t dumb” She said. “I’ve been looking for him ever since he left. We’re really concerned about him. After all, family are the only ones you can trust”

Katara blinked. Azula sounded… genuine. She had dropped her sadistic mannerism for a moment to talk about her brother.

“And I’m the bait” Katara deduced.

“Not entirely” Azula said. “No, you’re much more important than that”

Katara studied her for a long moment, carefully thinking about her next move.

“What are you going to do with me?”

“Once we reach Whaletail Island, we’ll open negotiations with the Southern Water Tribe” Azula explained. “And I need your help for that”

“So you had to kidnap me”

“Would you come willingly if I asked you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I would”

The two girls stared at each other, like a contest. The guards around the table shifted uncomfortably.

“And if I asked you to tell your tribe to surrender” Azula continued. “Would you cooperate?”

“You must not know my tribe if you really think we would do that” Katara stated.

Azula put her glass down.

“That’s what I expected” she said. “I’m not here to take lives, Katara. You and I can make things go smoothly if we work together”

“But we can never work together” Katara countered. “What you want goes against the interests of my tribe”

“On the contrary” Azula argued. “I think my proposal has the potential to benefit everyone. But we’ll see when the time comes”

Katara glared at her, and delivered her final blow.

“Whatever it is you want from us” she said. “We won’t let you take it. Not again. I’m stronger now. I beat you before and I will beat you again”

She observed Azula’s face for any kind of reaction. In the surface, the Princess remained unfazed, but under the mask, her eyes widened slightly. A flash of fear crossed her gaze.

She did it.

Dinner ended on a cordial note. Katara was escorted back to her cell and Azula retreated back into her bedchambers. But just as expected, about an hour later, the door was unlocked and a guard announced:

“Princess Azula demands your presence in the throne room”

Other than the fact that the ship had a throne room, Katara wasn’t surprised in the slightest. The guard escorted her up a series of stairs that never seemed to end and waited by the entrance for orders.

“You’re dismissed” came Azula’s voice. The guard bowed and closed the door behind himself.

Katara was now alone with Azula. Her heart raced in her chest. The throne room was impressive, with a black tile floor and walls adorned with red paintings and sculptures of dragons, battles, stars and spirits, with not a single window on sight, but nothing drew the attention away from the throne itself. Azula sat on a big cushion, on a platform that rose several feet above the floor. Behind her, a dark figure twisted on itself, like a tangled rope, with wings and scales and tusks, holding onto the wall almost like a piece of tapestry. A horrifying sculpture of black gold, a dragon looking at Katara, with its jaws open and its golden eyes digging into her soul.

Azula was holding something. She stroked it, feeling it up in a way that made Katara nauseous.

“Come here, Katara” Azula commanded.

Katara wanted to resist, but Azula’s voice filled her with an intense desire to obey, to follow every order she gave her. She craved that more than anything in the world.

Her throat constricted. A cold feeling filled her stomach.

She took a step, and then another, and soon she was standing in front of the throne, looking up at the Princess.

“Believe me, if you ever talk about what happened in the North again” she said, squeezing the sealskin. “You can say goodbye to your little pelt”

Oh.

They didn’t know she was beaten. If they did, they would think she was weak. That was her fear.

“If you attack my tribe, I’ll tell everyone that I beat you with your own lightning” She threatened.

“You won’t live long enough to do so” Azula countered. “I’ll bring you down before you even get the chance”

“Then I’ll tell everyone tomorrow” She said. “And then no one will respect you enough to follow you into battle” Katara couldn’t hold back a smirk. “Unless you let me go now”

“You wouldn’t dare”

“Try me” Katara insisted. “You can’t kill me. You need me if you want to find Zuko and convince my tribe to accept your terms”

Azula squeezed the skin tighter. Katara’s throat stung. She couldn’t breathe, but that didn’t matter. She had Azula cornered.

“Go back to your room” She commanded. “I’ll deal with you tomorrow”

Just like earlier, Katara followed her order without a single doubt. Returning to her cell sounded nice. And in any case, she had won the battle.

She heard the sparks before she saw the lightning. Her heart jumped. She swung the door shut just in time, but the metal was blown away by the impact. She ran down the stairs and pushed past the guards that tried to grab her, turning around the corner right before a lightning bolt snapped past her.

No, no, this wasn’t supposed to happen. She didn’t meant to…

She pushed the door open and ran onto the dock, and for the first time in weeks, she saw the moon, and the stars, and she felt the wind on her face and the smell of the sea.

She was so close to freedom. Her skin, she needed her skin. If only she had her skin…

_“Stop right there!”_

Katara froze. She hadn’t _heard_ anything. The voice roared from within. It spoke inside her mind.

She shrunk back. There were no firebending soldiers on deck. They stayed below. That was the first sign that something was wrong.

It was the dragon. The blue scales reflected the light of the moon as she flew. Azula landed painfully on top of the deck. When standing, she was taller than a komodo rhino. Her wings covered the whole sky.

 _“You will not unauthorize me again, peasant!”_ She roared in her mind. Katara took a step back. Without her waterbending, she was weak and pathetic. She stood helpless, wide-eyed in front of the Blue Dragon. _“You shouldn’t have defied me like that”_

Her jaws parted with a growl, a blue glow from her throat, seeping through her parted fangs. Katara’s heart picked up when she finally saw what she clutched between her claws.

She braced herself for the strike. It was over, she knew that. But she’d rather die standing than to yield to the Dragon.

But the lightning never came. She dropped her arms and saw the dragon had no intention to attack.

 _“You will go to your room now”_ She commanded. _“You will lock the door and go to sleep and never push your luck with me ever again”_

Katara _wasn’t_ going to do that. She was going to fight to get her skin back. She would never bend to the Princess.

Except she _wanted_ to. He claws squeezed her skin painfully. She wanted to do everything the Princess said. She would devote her entire life to her.

The Princess told her to go back to her room, and what Katara wanted the most in the world was to follow her orders, so she willingly made her way below deck, strode down the hallways and across the throne room.

 _“Good”_ the Princess said, and her voice filled Katara’s heart with pride. Princess Azula was curled up in the center of the room, in front of the throne. The Black Dragon watched over the Blue Dragon. _“Now, let’s not let this event be a stain in our friendship. I’m sure you and I will make a great team”_

“Yes” Katara agreed.

_“Yes, what?”_

“Yes, Princess”

She bowed respectfully, holding her fist against her palm like she’d seen firebenders do before, and turned on her heels to go back to her room. She closed the door, but she didn’t have a key to lock it. Thankfully, mere minutes later, she heard a guard slide a key into the keyhole and click it locked.

Katara smiled. It was nice to follow Azula’s orders. It made her happy, and Azula had praised her. She appreciated her obedience. That was all she ever wanted. To be appreciated.

She let out a breath.

Her hands were shaking. She covered her mouth. A sense of dread hit her like a sledgehammer. Her throat constricted. Her stomach twisted painfully. She couldn’t stop shaking. Nausea overcame her and she hunched over to throw up, unable to hold it in anymore. Tears filled her eyes. She pressed her lips together, and with a slumped posture, she brought her knees to her chest, trying to hold herself like a mother would.

What was she _doing_?! Following her around like a lap dog, taking pride in her humiliating praise, letting her move her like… like a puppet master.

She suddenly understood why her mother had been so insistent that no one must take her skin. How could she let them take it? How could she be so stupid?

She shuddered, wide-eyed, and hid her face in her hands.

What had she _done_ to her!?

**海豹精**

The next time Katara tried to open the door, she found it unlocked.

Her eyes narrowed. She glanced sideways, checking the wide hallway was empty before following down towards the right. She explored silently, taking notes of all the closed doors and peeking through the open ones. She saw the kitchen, the armory, the stairs that led to the boiler room, the barracks for the soldiers and even what looked like a small studio, with a desk, quill and a bunch of scrolls piled up in the floor.

“Try not to break anything”

Katara flinched. The Princess was walking towards her. In her arms, she held her skin.

“I just wanted to see” Katara felt the need to explain herself.

“That’s okay. Just don’t touch my stuff. I wouldn’t want you getting dirt on any important documents”

Katara wouldn’t dare.

The Princess walked past her, leaving her alone once again. Even from the distance, the soft pressure of her fingers on the sealskin reached Katara.

Her door was never locked again after that. The Princess didn’t need to. Katara wasn’t going anywhere. She was free to roam the ship, to explore every room and talk to anyone who would give her the time of the day. She could even go onto the deck, to see the sun, but she worried going out at night would be pushing her luck. She spent the first three days exploring the warship, until she memorized every room, hallway and exit, but there wasn’t much else to do. Since she couldn’t waterbend, she didn’t know how to pass the time. She started to help in the kitchen, mostly to keep her hands busy, and because the Princess seemed to approve. The cook was nice. He was patient and he taught her how to make different Fire Nation meals. He even let her make stewed sea prunes one day. She hadn’t realized just how much she missed Water Tribe food.

After realizing she had so much free time, the Princess decided to give her a few chores. She would keep her company through the day when she demanded it, reading letters with her and holding conversations in the throne room whenever she was bored. She accompanied her on her daily walk around the deck, and observed from the sides as she practiced lightningbending. It wasn’t a bad job, most of the time.

“I was hoping you could read some letters with me” the Princess said one day, from her place in the throne, as she handed Katara a series of scrolls.

Katara nodded obediently, observing the seal pelt on the Princess’ lap. A delicate hand stroked the hairs. It looked different from last time, but Katara couldn’t put a finger on what had changed. A shiver ran down her spine. She focused on the letters.

“This one’s from Admiral Zhao” Katara read.

_“Your Highness, I must inform you that the mission is not over yet. Despite what my soldiers claim, the search is proving fruitful. They are shaken by the cruel environment, but we’ve been narrowing down the search field significantly in the last weeks, and if everything goes as accorded, I might be able to present an official report of our results by the end of winter._

_But in the case something unexpected comes up, I have a plan that could led the Fire Nation to the definitive victory. I can’t reveal it yet, but once I figure out the details, your Highness and the Fire Lord will be the firsts to know._

_To victory!”_

Katara swallowed. Her breath picked up. Reading Fire Nation military correspondence was like being transported to a different world. She understood what each word said, but something about the meaning escaped her, like why they talked about the attacks on the Northern Tribe as a sort of scientific experiment.

“Interesting” the Princess said, digging her nails into the fur. “Keep going”

Katara nodded and moved on to the next letter. When she heard the name, her heart dropped.

“Sokka…?” She mumbled. The Princess’ head perked up.

Her mouth went dry. Why was the Princess exchanging letters with her brother?

“If you’re going to read that, make it quick” the Princess rushed her. Katara opened the scroll and began to read.

 _“My sister’s life is non-negotiable. I don’t care if you’re the princess or if we have to fight a whole army of firebenders. You will deliver her to the South Pole and_ then _we’ll discuss your conditions, but I’m telling you already: whatever you’re looking for, we don’t have it, so you can stop messing with us”_

The letter ended there. There were no more words than necessary.

Her heart pounded heavily. Her ears were filled with blood and all she could hear was her own heartbeat.

Sokka…

The Princess pressed her lips together.

“I see your brother has the same temperament as you” she said. A sting pricked at her skin, like a needle. Katara flinched. “It’s a pity. I was hoping negotiations with him would be easier, but I’m starting to think I’ll need some more… direct methods”

 _Prick, prick, prick._ It was like a million tiny pins stabbing her. She glared at the Princess.

“Stop that” She demanded.

The Princess held an individual hair of her sealskin between her fingers and ripped it off.

“I’m sorry, what?” She mocked.

“Stop touching that” Katara ordered. “You can’t do that!”

She could suddenly tell what was wrong with her skin. It was covered in black dots that hadn’t been there before. Like grey hairs that grow from stress.

“Oh, I can do whatever I want” the Princess said. She squeezed the skin. “But you know that already, don’t you?”

She clenched her fists. The Princess ripped off hair after hair, destroying a part of Katara’s body and soul, while her face contorted in pain. She was sure a new dot appeared with every hair ripped. She flinched, but she didn’t curl into a ball or hunched her shoulders. She stood straight and proud.

“No” She insisted. “It’s not yours to take. It’s mine. Now, give it back!”

She launched herself at the princess, but Azula simply stood up, strangling the pelt, and said:

“No”

And Katara stopped.

“I’m done here” she said, still holding the pelt. “You should go to sleep. We’ll be arriving in a few days and I want you well rested”

At night, Katara often cried.

Because she couldn’t cry in any other moment of the day. Because of the pent up anger after being moved around like a ragdoll and having her own mind stolen from her. Because Azula forced her to read letters that could define the future of her people, just so she could know how fragile it was, to rub in her face how easily they could be wiped off the face of the earth, just like the Air Nomads. Because she feared for her brother’s life.

The pricking on her skin haunted her for hours afterwards.

She spent most of her time outside after that incident, trying to avoid the Princess whenever she could. She watched the waves hit the hull and heard the singing of the rat gulls flying above them. She gave up trying to waterbend. There was no use. She was happy to watch the sea around her. It was nice to feel the wind on her hair again. But she didn’t dare to go out at night. The Princess hadn’t said anything about it, but she did say Katara shouldn’t push her luck, which Katara was already doing. Until one day, it was the Princess herself the one who encouraged her to go outside.

“Don’t you want to see the moon, Katara?” She asked. “I think it’s full tonight”

It sounded an awful lot like a trap, but she told her to go, so Katara did. She left when it was dark and cold, when she felt the most at home, and she looked for the moon.

She hadn’t seen the moon in ages.

It was big, round and bright, like a silver piece from the Water Tribe. Memories of training under the moonlight with Master Pakku, fishing with Sokka and chatting about Northern politics with Yue flowed to the front of her mind. Master Pakku said waterbenders were strongest at night, with Tui watching over them.

She wondered if everyone was okay in the Water Tribes. In both of them. She thought about Sokka and Gran-Gran and Yue and Master Pakku and even Chief Arnook and Hahn. Were they fighting off the invasions? Did they know what was going on? Were they expecting her to come back, to help them fight?

The moon hung over her, observing like a mother. It pulled the tides like a waterbender pulled the seas. And it was right there, so close to her, that if she reached out with her hands, she could probably touch it.

She looked at its reflection on the water, twisted and amplified. As the ship traveled south, the temperature got colder. She was getting closer to home, yet it had never felt so far away.

The wind blew on her face, tangling in her hair and playfully pulling at her clothes. It whistled softly as it hit the sharp edges and corners of the ship. Below the deck, the water rippled, like tiny waves against the hull.

The sea was so close, she could touch it with her fingers, pull it towards her, let it swallow her. She wanted nothing more than that.

She breathed in the cold air of the south. She was so close to home, yet she couldn’t reach it.

But she could still try.

She extended an open hand and moved it upwards, like a wave. Master Pakku had taught her how to pull the water up and down. It wasn’t hard to remember the exact movement. She visualized the water following her lead, up and up and onto the deck, splashing over the metal floor. It was so close… it was almost there.

But the sea didn’t respond to her anymore. No matter how much she moved ,pushed and pulled, it didn’t raise or flow the way she needed. It wouldn’t follow her hands or swallow her body. It had abandoned her. Her bending was gone.

And deep down, she worried something inside her had broken, after forcing down inside her body so many chi blocker to the point she didn’t feel the sweet aftertaste anymore. They must have messed with her body, broken any links she had to the moon and the ocean, and rendered her useless. Her bending wasn’t just gone. It was taken. Lost. Maybe forever.

Her eyes filled with tears. She pressed her lips together and furiously scrubbed her eyes. The wind whistled furiously.

She missed her mother, and her father, and her brother. She missed them so much.

But most painfully, she missed herself.

She touched her clothes, like she did when she looked for her skin only to remember it was gone.

She had tried everything. But she discovered there was a fight that she couldn’t win.

Katara walked around the deck, surrounding its edge and loosely touching the railing. She reached the tip of the bow, and looked ahead. She couldn’t see land nor ice, only dark water and the moon above.

When she reached the stern, she sighed. There was a tower that rose from the deck, at the top of which were the throne room, Azula’s bedchambers and the cabin. Behind this tower there was a small space without windows or doors, where she could pass the time without being seen. It was a comfortable place. No guards, no chi blockers and no Princess.

She didn’t know how long she stayed there, staring at the sea. It may have been five minutes or five hours, but her eyelids were heavy, and she guessed it was time to sleep. They’d be arriving to Whaletail Island the next day, and that meant the beginning of a new cycle of humiliation and torture. She needed to get ready for that.

Then, there was a thump.

A dry sound that echoed through the metal. There was shifting and movement, and the sound of something solid moving in the tower.

Her mouth went dry. She looked up, trying to distinguish a shape, but there was only a dark shadow, crawling down the tower, coming close and closer to the edge.

The Princess had made up her mind. She didn’t need Katara anymore. Now it was only a matter of disposing the waste.

But it wasn’t Azula. The creature was covered by scales black as the night, with a thick mane crowning its head and wings big enough to cover the whole sky. Katara was met by a pair of familiar golden eyes, with pupils like slits. One was big and observant. The other was scarred, marred and barely open through the burned flesh.

She let out a shaky breath.

“Zuko” she said. She dragon nodded in recognition. Katara crossed her arms, trying to look composed “What are you doing here? You do know your sister is trying to hunt you down, right?”

The dragon stared at her for one long moment. He crawled further down the tower, until he was looming over her, at arm’s reach from Katara. Not that she wanted to touch him, of course.

“What do you want?” She asked. “I’m not going to help you. You lied to me!”

Zuko tilted his head. Why wasn’t he speaking? Why couldn’t he tell her what he wanted?

“So?” She insisted. “You’re not talking to me?”

He suddenly growled and flapped his wings, but he wasn’t trying to take flight. What was it? He couldn’t talk?

Oh. He _couldn’t_ talk. Not inside her mind at least. 

Katara squinted. What was he trying to say? He kept shifting and flapping his wings, but even he seemed disappointed with his own communication skills. He looked up at the sky, and Katara followed his gaze.

Oh.

She understood now.

“You came here for me?” She asked.

His eyes set on her again. And he nodded.

She didn’t believe it. This was the boy— the _dragon_ she had chased away in the South Pole years ago. Why would he come and look for her?

Whatever his reasons were, he was here now, knowingly falling right into his sister’s trap for her

She smiled sadly at him.

“I can’t leave” she said. “She took my skin and drugged me with chi blockers. I can’t even waterbend now. And I can’t leave without my skin”

He was putting himself in danger for nothing. If he tried to retrieve her skin, he’d be caught. 

The dragon— _Zuko —_ looked at her. Even as a dragon, he was still so expressive. And she could tell he already had a plan.

Suddenly, a gust of wind crashed against her. Surrounded her. Embraced her like a big, happy hug. Is whistled loudly as it greeted her.

“Aang!” She exclaimed. Yes, it was Aang. Even if she couldn’t see anyone, it was obvious it was him.

She smiled for the first time in weeks. Aang was there! And, well, so was Zuko, but that didn’t matter too much. As long as Aang was there.

The wind left. And so did Zuko. He retreated away from the edge of the roof and when Katara took a step back and tried to see him, he was gone.

Then came the explosion.

A sudden influx of oxygen in the boiler room ignited the smallest spark into a roaring flame. The combustion busted the inner mechanism of the ship and wrecked it from the inside out. The vessel stumbled and halted to a stop. Katara held onto the railing with her heart beating so fast she feared it would jump out of her chest. She looked around, searching for Zuko, but she couldn’t see him anywhere.

The sound of screams and shouting reached her ears. It came from inside, so she rushed through the door below deck to see what was going on.

A guard pushed past her, not even concerned about stopping her. There was light and heat, firebenders shooting walls of fire against an unseen enemy. Katara rushed down the halls. This was her chance.

Where would Azula keep her skin?

In her bedchambers. They were behind the throne room, at the top of the tower. She just needed to get in an out before she saw her.

The throne room was empty. That was a relief. Katara found the door, right under the black dragon statue. She was amazed by how much it looked like Zuko, but she didn’t let it distract her. She pushed the door open. Azula’s bedroom was huge. There were two wardrobes, a collection of chests, a desk with multiple scrolls and blank parchment on it, and the biggest bed she ever saw.

She checked the chests. They were locked. So she searched every drawer, inside the wardrobes, among the scrolls and even under the bed looking for a key, but Azula wasn’t stupid enough to leave keys lying around for Katara to pick. She must have it with her.

“I think I told you not to disobey me again”

Katara pressed her lips into a thin like. She slowly rose to her feet, facing Azula with dignity.

In her arms, Azula clutched her skin.

“Give. It. Back”

“No thanks” Azula smiled. “I’m afraid I need it”

Katara may not have bending, but she still had arms and legs. She lunged at Azula, but Azula simply took a step back and dodged her, stepping back into the throne room.

“Come on, you can’t really think you can best me without your bending, can you?”

She clenched her jaw. She wouldn’t let her control her ever again.

She reached for her again. Azula pulled the skin away, but Katara grabbed and scratched and Azula shot fire at her. Blue fire. Katara pushed her hand up and the fire burned above her head, without touching her.

A soft breeze met her. And then it was a whirlwind. A whistling typhoon inside the throne room. It smashed Azula against the wall with a painful thud. Hair broke loose from braids and topknots. It blocked Katara’s sight, through the confusion, she spotted the white fur.

She reached out and gripped her skin. Its soft texture on her palm was like coming home.

“Katara, let go” Azula commanded.

Katara’s grip tightened.

“I’m not listening to you ever again!”

She ripped her skin out of Azula’s grasp. Its weight in her hands was the most natural thing in the world.

Azula was getting up. There would be time to celebrate the reencounter later.

“Aang!” She called. “We need to go!”

They rushed out of the door together. A lightning bolt snapped and missed her by mere inches, hitting the wall next to her.

The wind pushed her down the stairs and onto the deck. She was almost there, almost there…

The firebending guards on the deck weren’t blocking her path. They were looking at the sky, at the shadow among the clouds. They were distracted, yes. She just needed to jump and…

A roar shook the sky. She looked back and found the Blue Dragon climbing down the tower, jaws wide open.

_“You’re not going anywhere, peasant!”_

Sparks snapped inside her open mouth. The ship was made of metal and surrounded by water. Wherever she struck…

Red flames descended from the sky. One dragons against another. They were a whirlwind of claws and wings and fire. Red fire, blue fire. And lightning . They flapped their wings and rose into the clouds, two shadows fighting to death. Thunder roared. Rain fell. The wind whistled around them.

And the sea below called for her. She could jump, swim far away from the ship. She had her skin back. She could do it.

But Zuko was up there. And she couldn’t leave him. Not after what he did for her.

The night was painted red. Then blue. Then a burning white. A deafening roar ripped through the storm.

And a black dragon fell from the sky. His dead weight crashed against the sea, despite the wind’s attempt to lift him.

No.

No, no, no!

Katara leaned on the railing and looked down at Zuko, slowly sinking in the waves.

She had to save him. She could…

Azula roared, up into the clouds. She was running out of time.

She moon was bright above the sea, even if the light didn’t break through the clouds. Tui was there.

She focused on the water. On the tiny cold raindrops that kissed her skin. She could feel them. They were right there with her.

If she could only reach them, bend them like she used to…

She didn’t travel to the other edge of the world, fought a dragon and become a master only to let some stupid chi blockers stop her.

And Zuko needed her. She had turned her back on him before. She wouldn’t do it again.

_(Even if she couldn’t do it for herself, she had to do it for him)._

The water. Yes, the water and the moon. The moon was full. She could do this. She held her skin around her shoulders with one hand and with the other one, she guided the raindrops around her, moved them, bent them to her will.

Yes, yes! A few responded to her pulling. She was doing it.

The Blue Dragon was descending back towards the ship. It was now or never.

So Katara jumped.

She didn’t shift. She needed her hands. She tried to push the water to keep Zuko afloat, to move him, but the ocean kept pulling them down below the surface.

She watched in horror as the black scales receded, giving way to pale skin. Soon, she wasn’t holding a dragon, but a boy. Just like she did years before in the South Pole. He wasn’t opening his eyes.

She kicked desperately, swimming towards the surface. She tried to hold his head up. If she let him fall, he could drown.

She gasped. The Blue Dragon… Azula was there, beating her wings with the force of a storm. She looked at Katara with all the hatred and disgust in the world, and Katara returned the glare with delight.

The dragon princess opened her jaws. Katara tightened her hold on Zuko one last time before letting him go. She knew what Azula had in mind.

She pushed through the chi block, through the barriers and the resistance, and pulled the water with her, twisted it, created her very own waterspout. She was ready.

Azula shot her lightning. In the moment the light flashed before her, Katara raised her arms. Water met lightning, and she sent it right back to Azula.

This time she was quick enough to dodge the counterattack.

It was a warning. Azula understood it perfectly. She held her death glare, but she didn’t dare to attack again. She was surrounded by water, and she was just as vulnerable as her enemy. Perhaps more. It would take one second (one lightning) for Katara to end her life. Or worse: her honor.

This was the Princess’ surrender.

Once she was sure Azula wasn’t going to attack, Katara held tightly onto Zuko and bent the water to propel them away from the ship. Aang followed close behind.

**海豹精**

They arrived to a small island several hours later. There was no sign of the Fire Nation, so Katara decided it was safe to take a break. The first thing she did was to drag Zuko onto the rocky shore to check his wounds

That was perhaps the most shocking part. Zuko was clearly in pain, but she couldn’t see anything. There were no scars, no burns, no markings other than the one on his eye. Which meant the damage must have been internal.

“Oh, he’s okay”

Aang was standing in front of her. He looked almost the same as two years before, except that he was a bit taller, and his face was slightly less round. She guessed he could say the same about her. He was still wearing his old Air Nomad robes and his red cloak.

“How can you be so sure?” she asked. “It doesn’t look good”

“Trust me. He always says that nothing can burn a dragon”

He sounded to certain, but Katara wasn’t sure she trusted his judgment.

“I feel bad for kicking him out” she blurted out. “Back then, when I found out who he was, I thought it was the right thing to do”

“I don’t think he’s angry at you” Aang said. “I think he felt hurt”

Katara bit her lower lip. She placed a hand of Zuko’s forehead to check his temperature.

“Maybe we should…”

In that moment Zuko coughed and tried to sit up. Aang helped him up with a hand on his back. When his eyes opened, the first thing Aang did was to cup his face between his hands and smash their lips together.

Katara blinked. She… wasn’t expecting that. At all. And she honestly didn’t know how to react. She looked away.

They broke the kiss.

“I’m okay” Zuko reassured him.

“See?” Aang turned to Katara. “I told you he was okay”

Well, those were great news.

Zuko looked up at her.

“Katara!” He exclaimed, like he was surprised to see her there.

“That’s my name, yes” she smiled. “Do you remember what happened?”

Zuko nodded.

“I got struck by lightning. I remember” He said. “And you saved my life again”

Katara couldn’t help but smile. She kneeled to be at his same level.

“I wanted to thank you for coming back for me” she said. “And I want to apologize for being such a jerk back in the South Pole”

“You were just thinking about your family” he argued. “I would do the same”

At some point Aang produced some Earth Kingdom clothes for Zuko. He picked them up out of nowhere. When Katara asked him about it, he replied:

“I keep all our stuff in the Spirit World”

His statement left more questions than answers, but Katara was too exhausted to care. They set up camp near the shore, with the idea of resuming their respective journeys the following day. At night, Katara saw Aang kiss Zuko on the lips when they though she wasn’t looking. She didn’t know love was possible without one man and one woman.

“Hey!” Aang exclaimed at one point, when they were sitting around the campfire. “This is just like the old times!”

Katara and Zuko exchanged a look. His hair was a bit longer, but the scene—saving the life of a half-dead dragon boy and then sharing a campfire with him— was vaguely familiar.

“I guess it is” she agreed. She looked down.“Aang, Zuko, why did you come for me?” She asked. “You don’t even know me”

“But we do know you!” Aang argued. “We lived with you for months”

“I know, but what I mean is…” she sighed. “It’s just… it’s been so long”

“We couldn’t leave you with Azula” Zuko said. “She’s crazy!”

“I know! She…” her mouth went dry. “When she had my skin, she did something to me. She could control me”

Aang frowned.

“How is that possible?” He asked. “Is that something that happens when someone touches it?”

“I… I guess so” she clutched her skin to her chest defensively.

Zuko gave her a strange look.

“What?”

“I’m sorry you had to deal with her” he said.

They went to bed shortly after. Zuko extinguished the fire with a movement of his hand.

Katara slept under the moon on a simple sleeping mat. No walls, no ships, no metal. She was free.

She glanced at Zuko, sleeping alone a few feet away from her.

They had freed her. They forgave her cruelty from years before, justified or not, and put their lives in risk to save her.

She would never forget about that. She silently promised that she would help them in any way she could.

She woke up a couple times that night. The first time was because she had a dream about Azula. The second time because she dreamed of Sokka and her mother.

Aang wasn’t sleeping, or eating, or touching the ground. When Katara spotted him, he was hovering just a few inches above the pebble shore.

How much time had he spent with Zuko? How could Azula have _not_ expected him?

How come airbenders were dead if they could turn into wind? Was this how they hid? Were they living among them in secret?

Something was happening to Aang. He observed his reflection on the water, with his legs crossed as if he was simply meditating. His body changed. His hair grew, and disappeared, and his arrow tattoos blinked in and out of existence. In one moment, he looked like a small child, and in the other he was a grown man of a hundred years of age, with a long white beard and wrinkles all over his body. He gave a tired sigh and went back to looking like a fourteen years old boy.

Katara’s jaw dropped. She rubbed her eyes, because this sure _wasn’t_ a normal airbender skill. There was something going on. And she was starting to piece it together.

She sat up. Aang turned to see her.

“Oh, hey!” He exclaimed. Katara hushed him and pointed at Zuko, sleeping not far from her. “Sorry”

“Aang, what is it like turning into wind?”

His smile faltered.

“It’s easy” he said. “I just… do it”

“And…” she licked her lips. “What is it like to be old?”

Aang’s eyes widened. He glanced at Zuko, and then looked back at the water. He let his feet touch the ground.

“I don’t like it” he said, accepting that his secret was out in the open now. “I know I’m a hundred and fourteen years old, but I don’t _feel_ old. I’m just a kid”

“You can choose what you look like?”

He nodded.

“I don’t know why” he said, avoiding her eyes.

Then it all clicked. His lack of sleep and eating, his strange abilities and his survival in the ice for a hundred years.

“You’re a spirit!” Katara gasped.

Aang sighed.

“I don’t know” he murmured. “I think so”

How could he _not know?_ It was the only explanation! But Aang looked more confused than she was, so she decided not to press him any further. He looked back at his reflection in the water and disappeared in a dim flash of white. 

The next morning, Aang showed up and woke them up cheerfully with a gust of breeze, happy as if last night hadn’t happened.

“Zuko, wake up!” He yelled. “I think I just saw a turtleduck in the beach!”

Zuko sat up immediately, though we swore it wasn’t because of the false promise of a turtleduck (because they were freshwater animals. Everyone knows that). He was already getting up anyways.

“Plan’s still set?” Zuko asked his partner.

“Yup!” Aang replied. “Southern Air Temple, here we go! Oh! I can show you my old room! And the airball field! And the bison stables! There’s enough space for you to shift in there. We could sleep there someday!”

Katara found them checking an old map. Aang pointed at a point near the bottom left corner. The Southern Air Temple was just hours away from her village.

The map. She used to have a map of her own, made of tiger seal skin. Where did she…?

She’d had a bag. They had taken her stuff. And her necklace…

She touched her neck.

No.

She lost it. Her last connection to her mother. It was gone!

Something broke inside her chest in that moment. She wanted to sit down and take a second to breathe, but she had more pressing matters at hand. She leaned over Aang’s shoulder to read the map.

“It’s on the way to the South Pole” she pointed out.

“Oh! We could travel together!” Aang suggested. He turned to his partner. “Zuko, what do you think?”

Zuko exchanged a look with Katara.

“If you’re okay with it”

“I actually need to get to the South Pole as soon as possible” Katara explained. “My family needs me. If you travel by air, then I could get there in time to warn them” after a moment, she added. “Wait, you can carry me?”

Zuko shrugged.

“I can try. I’ve never done it before”

Aang’s head perked up.

“Wait, warn them about what? Is the Fire Nation planning an attack?”

“I… don’t know” Katara admitted. “But I know they’re looking for the Avatar in the Water Tribes. I need to be there”

Zuko gave her a concerned look.

“They are?” he asked.

“That’s what Chief Arnook said— he’s the chief of the Northern Water Tribe”

Aang packed their few belongings into his… Spirit World suitcase. They would leave soon.

“At least take them off this time” Aang demanded. “We’re running out of clothes and you always rip them apart when you shift”

Zuko gave him a glare, but he did as Aang asked. Katara looked away to give him some privacy, and when she saw him again, she was met by the sight of a big black dragon, as tall as two ostrich horses, with the body of a snake and the mane of a lion vulture.

He was perfectly recognizable. Despite being a dragon, he was so clearly _Zuko_. Something about the shape of his head and the look of his eyes gave him away. She didn’t think she could ever mistake him for an animal.

She looked at him nervously, unsure of what to do next.

“You have to sit on his neck” Aang explained.

“Won’t that hurt him?” Katara asked.

“I don’t think so. We’ve done it a million times! Oh, and hold onto his mane. It doesn’t hurt him”

Zuko gave Aang a threatening glare. Katara remembered _very clearly_ how Zuko told her he _hadn’t_ done it before (Aang didn’t count. He was as light as a feather). She wondered for how long they’ve been traveling together. Did Aang go with Zuko back to the Fire Nation?

She tried to figure out where his neck ended and his back began, because he looked like a very big and fluffy snake with wings and claws, and eventually decided to settle close enough to his head to grip the hairs of his mane. She mumbled a sorry as she pulled the hair. It was weird and awkward and part of her wasn’t sure she should be flying on the dragon that had just taken a lightning to the chest (just flying on a dragon sounded terrifying! What if he dropped her? What if she hurt him?), but before she could change her mind and decide to swim all the way to the South Pole, Aang shouted:

“Ready!?”

“Wait!”

“Let’s go!”


	2. Ran Before The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so here's Chapter Two! I swear this started off as a simple one-shot and then it kinda got out of hand :P anyways, I forgot to mention, the chinese characters I used in this chapter mean "Soul" or "Spirit". The ones from the first chapter translate to "Selkie" and the one for the next one means "Dragon". Kinda. I did some research online because I don't trust google translate but there might still be mistakes. Oh well. I know none of the protagonists are chinese coded and I *could* have used japanese and tibetan (?) words but that would mean I would also have to use inuit words for Chapter 1 and I don't want to cross any lines so yeah I'll be sticking to chinese thank you. Hope is is good!

_“_ _Storms may come, but wild tempests won't tear me away from your arms._ _  
I'll hold to the good and the true, I'll weather your storms for the stillness in you._ _”_

–“[Ran Before The Storm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykLcVdD8Mnc)”, by Roo Panes.

**灵魂**

Aang loved to sleep next to Zuko when he was in dragon form. Unlike the rest of the royal family, he had a very fluffy mane. The rest of them had stiff and coarse manes. They probably didn’t take care of them, or didn’t have someone to brush them at all times. Besides, Zuko was basically a human heater. Or… dragon heater. Was there a difference? Zuko thought it was weird that he liked using his mane as a pillow, but it wasn’t Aang’s fault it was so soft! Touching people already required enough effort and concentration. If he was going to cuddle with his boyfriend, he wanted to have the best experience. The downside was that, as soon as he lost concentration, he would pass right through Zuko’s body and hit his head on the floor. Like a ghost. Which he guessed he was. But it was nice while it lasted. It was a pity Zuko spent so little time as a dragon once they stopped flying at sunrise. He always complained that he wanted to rest in a comfortable bed, and they didn’t have dragon-sized beds in the Earth Kingdom, but sometimes he would humor Aang and give in to his puppy eyes.

So when Aang came back to the temple after going for a morning flight before the sun rose and saw that his boyfriend was still asleep as a dragon, he couldn’t help but to collapse on top of him, earning an annoyed grunt from Zuko’s part.

He cranked his neck to look at him better. Zuko was glaring at him.

“I’ve never seen you asleep before sunrise” Aang pointed out. The sky had a gentle lilac hue. The wind lifted him up and let him land on his feet. “Zuko, come on! Wake up! I haven’t shown you the airball field yet!”

Begrudgingly, Zuko got up and shifted back into human form. Aang quickly threw his own cloak around his boyfriend’s shoulders.

He may not have a proper dragon mane as a human, but his hair was still adorable. To Aang, running his hands though it felt like stroking silk. It was long by Air Nomad standards (of course), but short by Fire Nation standards. Barely long enough to pull into a topknot. Not that he had worn a topknot ever since they left. He still kept his hair at that length for some reason.

He pulled him into a kiss without thinking. Zuko’s lips against his _still_ sent a spark of electricity down his spine, even after two years. His heart still gave a leap when he saw him and raced when he kissed him. He cupped the back of his neck to deepen the kiss, and when Zuko’s lips moved in accord to his, kissing back with the same love and intensity, it took everything for Aang not to lose concentration and jump into the air.

Zuko broke the kiss to breathe. Aang always forgot Zuko still needed to breathe and that their kisses couldn’t go on and on forever.

“You _do_ know the rest of us still get tired when we don’t sleep, right?”

“Oh” Aang mumbled. “Of course I know that!”

After Zuko got properly dressed, Aang showed him everything he could. He showed him his room, the old airbending practice fields with its spinning gates and its obstacle races, the ceremony halls, the classrooms, the bison stables… They looked strange without bisons. Aang couldn’t help but think about Appa, and about how much he missed him. And the whole temple looked strange without airbenders. But there was no need to think about that. He just wanted to be happy to see him old home again.

He was especially thankful that they didn’t come across any skeleton.

They were staying at the highest towers for that reason. Aang didn’t want to venture down the lower levels. This was where he was born. Where grew up. Where all his friends died.

Zuko tried to show interest in everything Aang told him. He asked questions and listened to the answers, like he always did, no matter how many times Aang drifted away from the original topic and started talking about old Air Nomad foods and dances. But it was clear his head was somewhere else. He was absent, often looking at some point in the horizon instead of what Aang was telling him about, and he had to repeat himself a couple of times for Zuko to finally listen to him.

“You’re thinking about something else” Aang pointed out. “What is it?”

Zuko was facing south. Aang knew the answer before he even spoke.

“Do you think we should have stayed to help her?”

Aang looked away. He had asked himself that same question before.

“I mean, she said she would come and look for us if she needed help”

“But we can’t stay here forever” Zuko argued.

After all, it was only a matter of time before Azula found them again.

**灵魂**

Weeks passed. Fire Nation warships traveled south. They could see them all the way from the temple. Katara never came for help. Zuko insisted they couldn’t stay there forever. Aang insisted on waiting one more day, and Zuko didn’t argue, because deep down he always wanted to wait one more day, too. He just insisted on leaving because someone had to.

Aang went to check one day. He left behind the illusion of his physical body and flew all the way there, like a quick wind coming from the north. Zuko wanted to come along, but a giant black dragon was a bit more difficult to dissimulate than a literal air. Besides, it would only be a few days!

But when Aang arrived, he found… nothing.

Nothing at all. The village was gone. He searched in frantic terror for Katara and her family, but they hadn’t left a single footprint on the snow to be found. It was as if they’d been wiped off the face of the Earth.

Wiped off the face of the Earth.

The Fire Nation ships were right there, near the coast.

He hit them with all the anger he had in him. He whistled and roared and cried for Katara, the most beautiful girl in the world, who deserved much, much better than this. 

But as he heard the soldiers talk, realization dawned to him: they didn’t know where the village was either. No one knew. Not even Azula, who observed the scene with cold and calculating eyes from her royal warship.

So they hadn’t killed them.

They were just… gone.

He arrived to the temple a few days later. Zuko could instantly tell he was there, of course, but Aang didn’t have the energy to show himself. He drifted lazily through the sky, playing the old wind chimes hanging from windows and scaring the birds. Zuko called for him. He yelled a lot, actually, demanding that Aang told him what he’d seen. He didn’t stop shouting until he realized that Aang wasn’t coming back yet.

Zuko did something very smart from then on: he turned into a dragon and stayed like that for most of the day as he explored the temple, looked for food and waited for Aang to come back to him.

He eventually did, when it was time to sleep. Zuko rarely slept at night anymore, because his sleep schedule was so messed up, but this time he curled up for the night after sunset. Aang put all his energy into his form being physical enough to could touch someone else, and he let himself fall on top of Zuko’s dragon mane. Zuko may not have been able talk as a dragon like the rest of his family did, but Aang didn’t mind. In moment like these, the silence was more comforting. He stroked the soft mane.

“The whole village is gone” Aang said. “Azula was there, but she didn’t know where they were, either. They just… vanished” Zuko moved his head to take a better look at him. An acknowledgement. A shared concern. “And I got so scared for a moment! Because they’re looking for the Avatar, and I thought they had…”

His voice cracked. He wiped away a tear.

Zuko moved and shifted. He wrapped his arms around Aang and left him hide his face on his shoulder.

“Let’s look better tomorrow” he suggested. “If it’ll make you feel better”

Aang sniffled and nodded. He knew Zuko was worried, too.

“Yeah. Okay. Let’s do that” he mumbled

**灵魂**

Aang liked Katara.

That was no mystery. He didn’t hide it, but he might as well do because Zuko was completely oblivious to it. Aang didn’t see the point on straight up telling him. That would probably start drama. It was better to let Zuko figure it out on his own.

Even if Aang wasn’t going to act on his feelings.

Which he didn’t intend to do. No, he wouldn’t do that.

It wasn’t his fault being interested in multiple people wasn’t normal in the other nations!

Anyways, the search for Katara’s village proved futile. They just… weren’t there. They couldn’t find them. They searched for days, trying to figure out if they had moved further away from the shore or into the mountains, but there wasn’t a single building, tent or structure in sight.

In the end, they had no option but to give up on the search. Azula was still dangerously close and they needed to get somewhere safe. Aang suggested the Eastern Air Temple, because it was the second closest after the Southern Air Temple. But truth was that, no matter to which Air Temple they were, Azula always found them. And if she didn’t find them, then the Lóng Company did. There was nowhere left to go. Unless they took their risk in one of the living nations, that was.

**灵魂**

_After being kicked out o the South Pole, Zuko flew all the way back to the Fire Nation, and Aang followed._

_He went back to the Palace, even though he was clearly afraid. Aang had never seen so much fear in his life._

_The Fire Nation was… different than he remembered. There was no music, or dancing, or fireworks. The streets were horribly silent._

_When Zuko arrived to the Palace, a black dragon landing on the main yard, the guards threw ropes and hooks over his body, until he was tied to the ground. Aang watched in horror as they forced a dark liquid into his mouth and he slowly turned back into his human form._

_They put him in prison. Locked him up in the dungeons, where it was dark and cold. They only gave him dirty rags to dress himself. The guards didn’t talk to him. They kept him isolated from everyone, like the family’s ugly dirty secret._

_Aang refused to leave his side, of course. He had to disappear and stay completely quiet when the guards came, and he only showed himself when he was alone with Zuko. Even if he didn’t seem to want him there._

_“Why are you here?” He barked at him. “You could go anywhere you wanted”_

_Aang looked down._

_“I want to stay with you” he replied._

_Aang tried to snatch the guards’ keys, but he never dared to stay too much with his feet on the ground. He had to be standing on the edge, ready to turn into wind at any moment. And whenever he tried to grab the keys, his fingers ran straight through them._

_This discovery filled him with horror. This had never happened before… before the iceberg. He didn’t want to think about what it meant._

_And so, he couldn’t get the keys. He could smash the guards against the wall and take the keys while they were unconscious, but the monks always said that unprovoked violence was the worst thing he could do. He still felt bad about lashing out at Katara’s village with a storm. So he’d rather find another solution first._

_He asked Zuko if there was someone, anyone who could help him. Aang could try talking to them. There was no harm in trying, right?_

_It took him a while to get an answer out of Zuko. Three days had passed since his imprisonment when he finally told him._

_“I guess you could talk to my uncle, General Iroh” He suggested. “But I haven’t seen him since the Agni Kai”_

_Okay. He would find Zuko’s uncle. How hard could it be?_

_Aang visited every corner of the palace, observed every nobleman, searched through every room and hallway looking for someone who looked like the description Zuko had given of his uncle (short, fat, probably drinking tea, liked proverbs)._

_When he finally found him, signing papers in his studio with a cup of tea by his side, Aang didn’t waste time. He blew all the papers away, accidentally spilling the ink, and tried to push the general towards the door. The old man seemed confused but Aang didn’t have time for that. He picked up the quill and made it float down the hall, towards the dungeons, and hoped Zuko’s uncle followed him._

_Thankfully, he did. Iroh was received by the guards with respectful bows, much unlike the way Zuko had been dragged in._

_When Iroh saw his nephew, his jaw dropped, his eyes filled with worry._

_“Prince Zuko?”_

_Zuko looked up._

_“Uncle…”_

_Iroh ordered they opened the door, and the guards had no option but to obey. He immediately took Zuko into his arms, and for the first time since Aang had met him, he openly cried, without shame or hesitance. He was no more than a terrified thirteen years old boy with only one eye back then. He sobbed for what felt like hours, and Aang observed from the side, not wanting to interrupt._

_Iroh was outraged. He brought Zuko out of prison, gave him proper clothes and a room in the palace. He would have a very serious talk with the Fire Lord later that day._

**灵魂**

Nearly a year passed of aimless wandering, kisses and running away from the Fire Nation. Zuko was getting unusually irritable after every almost-encounter with Azula. He was always in a bad mood after fighting her, but it was getting worse. Anger was being slowly replaced by fear, or at least shared room with it. He held Aang tighter at night, as if wanting to protect him. Even if that wasn’t necessary. It wasn’t like Aang could be physically harmed. They visited the Eastern Air Temple, where Zuko showed a lot of curiosity about the scriptures and scrolls that still survived in the old library. Aang had never liked reading. It was honestly kind of boring. But now, he would devour every piece of information he could find. He studied with Zuko and discussed their findings together. Sometimes it was easy to forget Zuko was a prince, which was almost like being a scholar. He was _supposed_ to study. A lot. All the time.

(Zuko thought it was boring, too).

But they didn’t have the right to ignore this knowledge. Zuko was particularly interested in how the history and culture the scrolls talked about differed from what was taught in the Fire Nation.

“I didn’t know the power was so… decentralized” Zuko mentioned one day.

“Oh?” Aang raised his eyes from the scroll in his hands. “Oh, yeah. We didn’t really have a government. There was a council of elders, but they were mostly there to watch over the education of young airbenders and maintain communication with the other temples. They didn’t really order us around”

He could tell by Zuko’s expression that he had trouble wrapping his head around the idea of not having a government.

“How did it work?” He asked. “I mean, what about the economy? Where did food come from?”

“Well, we mostly grew our own food” Aang explained. “And the things we used were handmade or traded and bought from the other nations. It was more of a craft industry than a… uh… _industrialized_ industry”

“What about the laws?” Zuko insisted. “What happened when someone committed a crime?”

“Well, they were judged by the council of their temple” Aang explained. “If it could be fixed, they had to make up for what they did and apologize until the person they wronged forgave them”

“What if it can’t be fixed?”

“I think they were kicked out of the temple” Aang said. “I think it depends on the crime. If you killed someone, they wouldn’t accept you in the other temples, either”

“That’s it?” Zuko scowled. “They were just banished?”

“What else could we do?” Aang asked. “If we did anything worse, we would be just as bad as them”

Zuko was baffled by Air Nomad culture, but also immensely interested. He read and explored as much as he could and asked Aang a lot of questions. He sounded apologetic, as if he was trying to make up for something. Aang replied to every single question, no matter how painful they were. In exchange, Zuko was incredibly careful with his firebending in the temple, and even showed respect by not eating meat in there. Aang really appreciated it.

But they left for the Earth Kingdom a few months later. They had spotted a wooden sailboat with the character of the Lóng Company on the green sail, and it was better to leave before they got any closer. They flew side by side, and Aang tried to cheer Zuko up by talking to him, telling jokes and trying to coax him into playing in the clouds. It worked about half of the time, which was good enough.

Aang found that Zuko tended to laugh more when he saw Aang was happy, so Aang tried to remain extra happy. But sometimes that would only piss him off. Whenever he had a nightmare, he rejected Aang’s attempts at comforting him. And the more Aang tried to cheer him up, the more Zuko demanded to be left alone. But when they were flying together at night or sitting together around a campfire and Aang tried to befriend the biggest animal they found, or told a story with shadows and poor voice acting, he would get a few chuckles and even a full blown laugh out of him (or a guttural dragon sound that Aang was pretty sure was meant to be a laugh). He loved that sound. And that would usually result in a make out session at night.

He just wished he could make him that happy when tears were running down his face.

It was hard to stay happy all the time, sometimes, but it was worth it. He did it in part for Zuko, yes, but Aang did it mostly for himself. That’s what mattered.

One day, Aang and Zuko found a really nice cave in a mountain to pass the night. It was in the southern Earth Kingdom, halfway between the Southern and the Eastern Air Temples. They arrived at dawn, but Zuko wasn’t tired (and Aang hadn’t been tired in three years), so they decided to go check the village in the mountainside. Zuko came back to his human form and after giving him a quick peck on the lips, they went together to the town.

As they got closer, Aang realized it wasn’t as much of a town as it was a small city. He played with the wind chimes and the lanterns hanging from roof edges and swirled around Zuko to make him walk faster. Zuko signaled at the Wanted Person posters of him hanging from the walls, and Aang happily ripped them off.

One of them wasn’t as much of a wanted person poster as it was a call to arms. One thousand golden pieces were offered to any Dragon Hunters who could bring the Black Dragon that terrorized the population to the Earth King.

Aang was very quick to destroy that one before Zuko saw it.

People were just waking up now. The streets were slowly filled by passerby’s and workers and the market opened shortly after. Zuko decided to buy some supplies (he still needed to eat, after all). Meanwhile, Aang played with the leaves of the trees, the unused clothes hanging for sale and the tiny bells that hung from the branches. The smell of food and the sound of talking filled the air. He could fly high above the city, explore every alley and bridge and wall and maybe talk to new people, if they stayed for long enough to make sure they were safe.

“Hey, aren’t you that banished prince?”

…Or maybe not!

“I don’t know who you’re talking about” Zuko lied to the vendor.

“Yeah, the one with a scar” the old man continued. “Are you sure you’re not him?”

“There are a lot of people with scars”

Aang decided it was time to intervene, so he blew wind on the vender as hard as he could, until the clothes hanging from the ceiling fell on top of him. Zuko took this chance to leave.

Phew! That was close!

He took shape again once they were away from the market.

“Maybe _I_ should buy stuff from now on” he suggested.

“Nothing happened!” Zuko argued. “I had it under control”

“…Sure”

They kept walking aimlessly. Aang wanted to see everything. This was the city of… Gaoling, right? Home to the Earth Rumble VI? There must be so much to see in there! Maybe they could even go see the tournament! Oh, that would be awesome!

“Hey, Zuko” Aang called. “We could go to this Earth Rumble thing”

Zuko didn’t turn to look at him.

“We shouldn’t stay here for long” he said.

“I thought you said you had it under control”

He tried to find his eyes, but Zuko looked straight ahead.

“What is it with you?” Aang asked. “I mean, I don’t think anyone else saw you”

“That’s not what I’m worried about”

“Then what is it?”

Had he done something wrong? Well, Zuko always made sure to let him know when something pissed him off (he was getting better at expressing his frustration in less… explosive ways). What wasn’t he telling him?

“It’s nothing”

Zuko didn’t seem to take any more nagging after that, so Aang gave up. He decided to go for a flight, maybe find something fun to do in the city.

Yeah, he didn’t think Zuko would enjoy the Earth Rumble. He was more of a theater kind of guy, even if he wouldn’t admit it. Maybe he could find something about a play in the city. He was super tense and he needed a distraction. You know, to relax. He searched through the walls and shops for flyers or signs and even tried to overhear people he thought may be talking about it.

If he was an Earth Kingdom city, where would he put a theater?

Well, theaters were a rich people thing, so it must be in a wealthy district, right?

The wealthy area was easy to find. He just needed to look for the biggest houses. There were restaurants and schools and even a small earthbending arena! And there was the theater! It was a big building, made of white bricks and with a curved roof made of green tiles. And hanging on the walls there were posters of the different plays! He quickly took physical form to grab one.

And then he was knocked to the ground.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you?” Someone yelled at him. “Where did you come from?”

“Sorry!” Aang let the wind lift him and let him fall back on his feet. “I didn’t see you there”

It was a girl a few years younger than him, dressed in green and beige clothes. She wasn’t facing him when she talked.

“Well, I didn’t see _you_ either, but at least I was paying attention to where I walked” She frowned. “Someone’s a little light on his feet”

That’s when Aang realized that her eyes weren’t green or brown, like with most people in the Earth Kingdom. They were an empty, milky white.

“I was looking for a play to watch with my… friend” the last word came out a little strangled.

“I didn’t ask” the girl said. “Ugh! You made me lose concentration! Now I have to find that badgermole again!” She started walking away. “Thanks for nothing, Twinkle Toes”

Badgermole?

Well, at least the plays looked interesting, right? There was one about a cave of two lovers, one about badgermoles and even one about dragons!

He ripped the poster from the wall. Yes! This was it. Zuko would be so excited to hear about it!

**灵魂**

“Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise!”

They made their way to the back row, where they would be less visible. Aang had to constantly remind himself not to take his hand. He didn’t want to get kicked out of the theater. Especially just after finding something that may lift Zuko’s spirits.

The lanterns were snuffed. The talking dissolved into whispers. Aang wasn’t paying much attention. He was observing Zuko’s reaction, but he was sitting on his left side. All he saw of his eyes was the scarred skin and the permanent squint. He could never read him like this.

The play started. A young earthbending soldier called Cheng saying goodbye to his family and lover. He was traveling to fight in the great city of Ba Sing Se. The audience laughed at the jokes and gasped at the curses. The actor was really good, and his character was very funny. The stage was made of beige rock, and so the actor could earthbend his different surroundings. He could make a small house, he could simulate the walls of Ba Sing Se and he could fight when his character fought. Aang liked him.

He occasionally glanced at his boyfriend. Was he enjoying the play? He hoped he was. But most importantly, he wondered when the dragons would show up. The entire time he spent on his seat was a big anticipation for the moment they mentioned them.

“The Six Hundred-Day Siege of Ba Sign Se!” The narrator announced. “For nearly two years the evil Red Dragon of the West terrorized the Impenetrable City, yet it would not yield to it!”

The crowd cheered. The Earth Kingdom does not yield, they cried.

A giant puppet of a red dragon made of wood and paper was held above the stage by four actors with poles. It breathed smoke over the walls of the city, but the young soldier resisted the attack, holding the wall against the enemy by himself. The red dragon eventually gave up, terrified of the brave and strong earthbenders, and the four actors dressed in black took the dragon back behind the wings.

“Ah! But the Dragon of the West wasn’t alone!” The narrator continued. “It was seconded by…”

“The Green Dragon!” The main character cried.

Hanging from strings on the roof, the puppet of a long, slender green dragon was waved over the stage. Like its father, it spat smoke and black ashes. The crowd booed and laughed.

“Kill the dragon!”

“The terrifying Green Dragon was nothing for the Terra Team!”

The earthbender— a member of the first line of defense in Ba Sing Se— bent small rocks at the Green Dragon, piercing the paper and even breaking one of the strings that supported it. Eventually, all the threads were cut, and the Green Dragon descended from the sky like a dead bird. Sharp spikes of rock rose from the floor and stabbed the creature, shredding the paper until only its wooden head was left intact.

“Upon seeing the strength of the Earth Kingdom, the Red Dragon ran away, like a coward! Terrified of what he saw!” The narrator continued.

“They knew what was coming for him!” The earthbender supplied.

“And the skin of the Green Dragon…” The earthbender stomped on the ground and a throne rose from the earth. “It is now hung right behind the throne in the Royal Palace! It was a gift to the Earth King as a symbol of Earth Kingdom courage and victory”

The earthbender handed the shredded dragon puppet to a tall actor wearing long golden robes. Together, they slowly hung the pelt on the wall.

No, no, no…

“Zuko…”

It was too late. Zuko got to his feet and rushed to the door. Aang quickly followed suit.

It was dark outside. Zuko wouldn’t look at Aang.

“Zuko, I’m sorry! I didn’t know!” Aang cried. “I saw a play about dragons and I thought—”

“What? You thought that Earth Kingdom theaters liked us enough to make a play about us!?” Zuko glared at him. Aang’s heart stopped. “I’m done with this place”

Zuko kept walking, no matter how many times Aang apologized or tried to talk to him.

“Zuko, I’m so sorry” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to hurt you”

A green dragon being pierced by rocks. A green pelt being hung on the wall.

The streets were desert. No one was awake that late.

“The story is true” Zuko finally said. “The dragon they killed was my cousin, Lu Ten”

Aang’s stomach dropped. Of course. Of course! How could he be so stupid! The Green Dragon wasn’t a second in command! He was Iroh’s son!

“I would have _never_ taken you there if I knew what it was about”

“This isn’t about you, Aang”

And so Zuko resumed walking. He didn’t stop until they were again in the cave, inside the mountain. Zuko didn’t start a fire, so Aang took it onto himself to smash two spark rocks together until the wood and dried grass lit up.

Aang nurtured the little fire until it was strong enough to shine on its own. He glanced at Zuko, who was sitting with his legs hanging on the edge of the cave. If he jumped, he would crash against the rocks. Unless he shifted in time, of course.

He looked forward. His mind was somewhere else. Aang couldn’t see his right eye, but he could guess how he was feeling well enough.

“Do you want to talk?” He asked.

Zuko looked down.

“All we’ve done since we left the Fire Nation has been flying and hiding” he said. “I’m starting to think there’s more we should be doing”

Aang sat down next to him, on his right side. He wasn’t angry. He just looked… sad.

“Is this because of what Katara said?” He asked. Zuko turned to him.

“The Fire Nation is looking for the Avatar” he reminded him. “And you know what happened last time”

An invisible hand clutched Aang’s heart. He didn’t like to think about it.

“Sorry” Zuko mumbled. “But it’s true. What we saw in that play was true. By Uncle led a siege for _six hundred days_. He only came back home because of what happened to Lu Ten”

Aang put a hesitant hand on Zuko’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry about your cousin” he said.

“I didn’t know they kept his body as decoration” Zuko confessed. “Uncle could never retrieve it to give him a proper funeral”

They didn’t talk much after that. Zuko went to sleep, and Aang went for a flight. He explored the mountain, played with the cat owls and visited the city again. It was cold and silent and there wasn’t much to do. But when he tried to go back, he couldn’t find the cave. He had flown all over the place and somehow he lost it. Oh, he was so stupid!

But, yes! Yes, there it was. A crack on the rock. He landed inside. He just needed to find Zuko and…

A badgermole head rose from the ground.

Wrong cave! Wrong cave!

Yeah, Zuko wasn’t there, and the space was much smaller.

The creature blinked in confused.

“Twinkle Toes? Is that you again?”

Suddenly the badgermole retreated into its hole in the ground. The rock shifted, and a small figure was elevated to Aang’s height.

“How did you know it was me?” Aang asked.

“I felt you standing there through the badgermole” the girl replied. “Look, I wanted to say sorry for lashing out at you today”

Aang blinked. Okay, he was… _very_ confused now.

“Uh, it’s okay” he said. “What do you mean you felt me through the badgermole?”

The girl smirked.

“You’re not from here, are you?” She asked. “Well, if you’re from the Earth Kingdom, sometimes you can… how do I explain it?”

“You can turn into a badgermole?” Aang suggested. It wasn’t much different from firebenders turning into dragons and waterbenders turning into seals and wolves, was it?

“Not exactly” the girl said. “It’s more like… going into the mind of a badgermole. Or any other animal, really. As long as you’re both touching the ground and you don’t stay inside there for too long”

“Oh” Aang had never heard of that. Even before the iceberg, he had completely missed this piece of information.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool” the girl continued. “And not to brag, but I’m pretty good at it”

“I can see!” Aang cringed at his poor choice of words. Deciding to change the subject, he added: “What happens if you stay there for too long?”

“You turn into a badgermole” the girl explained. “For real”

“Oh. What are you doing here?” _And how on earth did you get here?!_

“I had a fight with my parents” she explained. “I don’t want to be around them”

“Aren’t you scared you’ll… trip, or something?”

The girl shrugged.

“Not really” she said. “You know, I see with earthbending. I bet I can see more than you do!” she tilted her head slightly. “There’s a spider over your head”

Aang looked up and, in fact, there was a spider wasp hanging from a thread, just mere inches above him. He shrieked and scrambled away. The girl laughed.

“So? What are _you_ doing here?”

Aang sat down and brought his knees to his chest.

“I’m worried about someone that I really care about” he said.

“Well, what did they say?” the girl asked. “You did ask them about it, right?”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure I understand” Aang confessed. “We’ve been traveling together for years, but he’s been acting weird lately. I think…” he sighed. “I think he doesn’t want to travel anymore”

“Oh, I see your problem” the girl said. “You’re the one who wants to keep running away”

Aang cringed.

“I’m just trying to…” to what? To help Zuko? To stay safe? It wasn’t like he could get hurt anyways. Blades and fire just passed through him.

“Sounds to me like you’re scared of something” she said. “Whatever it is, you need to face it head-on. Stop being such a baby”

Aang looked down. Was he being a baby? He didn’t want to be a baby! He wanted… he didn’t know what he wanted.

“Maybe you’re right” he admitted. Slowly, he stood up. “Thanks”

“I’m Toph, by the way”

“I’m Aang”

“Well Aang, I need to leave now. Before the bounty hunters my parents sent after me find me”

Aang blinked.

“Bounty hunters?”

“Knowing them, it will probably be worse” she started walking towards the end of the cave. “Who knows? Maybe _I_ should become a bounty hunter!”

She stomped on the ground and the rock opened for her. With that, she left, closing the door and leaving Aang alone in the dark.

**灵魂**

By the time Aang returned to Zuko, the sky was a bright orange as the sun slowly rose above the horizon. There was a bedroll rolled up and held with straps of leather waiting by the entrance. Zuko was leaning on his bag, packing everything he would need.

When he noticed Aang, he stood up and faced him.

“Aang…” He said. Very respectfully, he bowed, with his fist against his palm. “I think it’s time for us to part ways”

“What are you doing?” Aang asked. His heartbeats quickened. “Zuko, I already said I’m sorry about yesterday. I don’t…”

“This isn’t about you, Aang” Zuko strapped his bedroll to his backpack. “I can’t keep running away while the Fire Nation wipes out another nation” He glared at Aang. “You of all people should agree with that”

Aang staggered back. His stomach dropped at the words. The memories of skeletons covering every inch of the temples, the storm…

Zuko slapped his forehead.

“I’m sorry” he said. “I shouldn’t have said that”

Aang glanced back at the bedroll.

“So you’re leaving?”

Zuko nodded hesitantly.

“I need to stop them” he said. “I need to make up for what we’ve done”

Aang knew that Zuko knew there wasn’t any ‘making up’. You couldn’t make up for such crimes. But he also knew that Zuko would go to the ends of the earth to try.

But there was something else there. Zuko was talking about something else.

“Your cousin didn’t deserve what happened to him” Aang said. Zuko’s eyes widened. “And you don’t deserve it either”

Zuko looked away.

“Maybe I do”

“No, you don’t!” Aang argued. He took a step towards his boyfriend. “If… If you’re sure about this, then I’m coming with you”

Zuko’s head perked up, in that way that Aang found so adorable.

“Really?”

Aang nodded.

“You were right. Maybe it’s time to stop running” his throat went dry. “I won’t run away this time”

Zuko wasn’t one to initiate physical contact, so Aang was quite surprised when Zuko’s lips brushed against his. He immediately kissed back, holding the back of his neck. The kiss was almost timid, an exchange of brief pecks. Aang couldn’t stop thinking… he was so _glad_ that he found Zuko.

When they pulled away, Zuko still held his hand tightly.

“I didn’t want to leave _you_ ” he said.

Aang smiled. 

“I know” he replied.

**灵魂**

_Zuko bowed—no, kneeled to the Fire Lord. His forehead touched the ground. His whole body was shaking uncontrollably._

_“Father, I—I’m sorry” he stuttered. “I am your loyal son”_

_Aang observed with horror as the Fire Lord stood tall above his son, looking down on him with disgust._

_“A loyal son who flies away in the middle of an Agni Kai” the Fire Lord spat. “You bring humiliation and dishonor to this family and, as a prince, to the whole Nation”_

_Zuko’s shoulders shook. He was holding back sobs._

_“I’m sorry, I’m—”_

_“Silence yourself” the Fire Lord’s voice reverberated in the throne room. He walked around his son, refusing to look at him. His voice surrounded him from every angle. “I should banish you for your disrespect”_

_Zuko didn’t say anything. Aang wanted to help— to throw the Fire Lord out of the window for this._

_This was wrong. This was so, so wrong._

_“Luckily for you, I’ve… reconsidered the options” the Fire Lord continued. “You will be allowed to remain in the Fire Nation, but not as my heir. Your sister shall be Crown Princess from now on”_

_Zuko didn’t argue. He wouldn’t dare._

_“Rise, Prince Zuko” the Fire Lord commanded. “Get out of my sight before I regret my decision”_

_But Zuko didn’t get up. He couldn’t even lift his head. He was paralyzed. His body still believed it was in danger (and it was right)._

_But the Fire Lord’s glare filled Aang with terror, and he pushed against Zuko in order to get him to move. Zuko clumsily scrambled to his feet and receded back towards the door._

_And Aang followed closely._

_At the other side of the door was Zuko’s sister, Azula. She was small, only eleven years old, but her eyes were filled with too much cruelty for her age. She’d been unapologetically listening from the other side of the door_

_“What do you want, Azula?” Zuko snarled._

_“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe a thank you?” She suggested._

_“Why would I thank you?”_

_“For convincing our Father to let you stay” Azula explained. “You can be really dense sometimes, Zu-Zu”_

_Wait, what?_

_Zuko walked past her, but Azula followed him:_

_“Hey! I just did something nice for you. Without me, you wouldn’t even have a home anymore” she insisted. “Come on, Zu-Zu. Have a walk with me._ _I don’t believe you ever told me about your little trip” Azula leaned forward to find Zuko’s eyes. “Care to share?”_

_Zuko scowled._

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Don’t play dumb, Zu-Zu” she taunted him. “I’m sure you’ve visited very… exotic places”_

_Zuko’s fists clenched. They were walking down the halls of the palace, and eventually made it to one of the gardens. The one with the turtleduck pond._

_“I went to the South Pole” he said reluctantly._

_“My, my” Azula smirked. “What would you do down there?”_

_“I didn’t_ mean _to go there” Zuko growled. “Forget it”_

_“No, no. I bet it’s a very interesting place” Azula kept pressing. “I’m just wondering where you got medical help”_

_Zuko’s hand immediately went to his scar_

_“Some people helped me” he said._

_“Hmm” Azula hummed. “I didn’t know Water Tribe peasants had healers”_

_“Of course they have healers!” Zuko snapped. “Do you think they walk around with bleeding wounds all day?”_

_“I don’t know. Maybe they get rid of the wounded?” She suggested. “I have to admit, you healed quite quickly”_

_“They have very good healers”_

_“Still?”_

_Still, still. Her tone was so casual and careless it was insulting._

_“Was that girl you always talk about a healer?”_

_Zuko didn’t talk about Katara with Azula. He talked about her with Uncle, and Azula eavesdropped._

_“Why do you care?”_

_“Oh, I don’t” Azula smiled innocently. “I’m just trying to do small talk. Am I doing it right?”_

_“You’re terrible” Zuko snarled. He rushed his pace and stormed off, knocking his shoulder against Azula’s as he did so._

_Aang followed Zuko to his room. He meant to talk to him, ask him something, so as soon as Zuko locked the door, he came back to his physical form._

_And then the fire came. Angry red flames exploded and climbed up the walls, the bedposts, the curtains. Zuko screamed and kicked the furniture. He punched fire into everything around him._

_Aang covered his face, but when the fire hit him, it just… ran right past him. There was no pain. He didn’t even feel warm._

_Okay, okay, what did the monks use to say? Yes, fire needed air. If he could pull the air out of the fire…_

_But the air around him didn’t respond to him. He couldn’t airbend. He couldn’t…_

_So he tried something else. He turned into wind himself and pulled the oxygen out from inside. It was difficult and terrifying, but by the time it was over, he had extinguished most of the flames._

_“Zuko!” He exclaimed once he had his feet on the ground again. “What’s wrong?”_

_“What’s wrong!?” Zuko growled, suddenly turning to Aang. “You mean apart from what just happened!?”_

_“I was actually worried it would be worse” Aang confessed. “I mean, your sister helped you, didn’t she?”_

_“She didn’t help me! Azula always lies” Zuko said. “And my father… he might as well have disowned me”_

_Aang took a step towards him._

_“I’m sorry about what happened” he said. He… really didn’t know how to react in a situation like this._

_Zuko sat down on his bed. The red sheets were ruined and blackened._

_“I deserve it”_

_Aang’s heart dropped._

_No…_

_“Zuko, you didn’t deserve that”_

_“Yes, I did. I was a coward. I disrespected his authority in front of everyone and then I ran away”_

_Aang swallowed. He knew a thing or two about running away._

_“He said I brought dishonor to the family” he continued. He clenched his fist. “I need to get my honor back”_

_A tongue of fire escaped his hand._

_Aang wasn’t good at comforting people, but he had an idea who might. He disappeared, and minutes later General Iroh knocked on Zuko’s door, holding two cups of tea._

**灵魂**

The Fire Nation was after the Avatar, and the Avatar had been born into the Water Tribe. That meant Zuko (and Aang) had to… somehow… _be_ in the Water Tribe. To fight. And possibly to earn their trust. There were two Water Tribes, and they had a friend in one of them, so it shouldn’t be that difficult, right?

Except that the Southern Water Tribe had gone missing (the _entire tribe_ had gone missing), and the Northern Water Tribe was at the other side of the world. And even if they made it there, how would they find the Avatar before the Fire Nation did? What if the Fire Nation already had the Avatar? What if the Avatar was dead and had been reborn in the Earth Kingdom? What if the Avatar was in the missing Southern Tribe?

Well, Aang liked to think it was a start. They only had to visit each tribe and find the Avatar. How hard could that be?

So they parted that morning and began their journey north. They walked until it was dark enough to fly safely, and then they soared through the skies until Zuko couldn’t fight back against exhaustion anymore and accepted to take a nap. And then they continued. They barely stopped in days, only taking a break when Aang insisted that Zuko ate something or took a break. Because Zuko wasn’t the kind of person to take breaks.

As they pushed their travel times further into dusk and dawn, the crepuscular light revealed the Fire Nation camps installed though the desert, with their big red and black tents and their soldiers in middle of training. Near the coast, the ships found their way to every port and coastal town. Little black dots flooding every corner of the sea, like an ever-growing swarm of wasp that infected every house and village they could find.

They sometimes stopped by a village, but when they arrived, they always found them empty. The half-rotten buildings had been abandoned for long, and their roofs and walls were collapsing under their own weight. It was still nice to have a mostly functioning roof over their heads when it rained, because even though Aang could choose to let the rain fall right through him without getting wet, no touching the rain meant not touching Zuko either. And cuddling with Zuko was one of the best moments of his day (even if he refused to adopt his dragon form). Zuko would wrap an arm around him and rest his cheek on top of his head, and Aang hated it when he did this because when Aang had to leave, he would inevitably wake him up. He was quite literally ripping the pillow from under his head.

Aang suspected Zuko had very clear intentions about keeping Aang close to him for as long as he could.

One cloudless night, the full moon betrayed them, and its light reflected on Zuko’s scales perfectly. Their position was revealed. Below, on the ground, soldiers of the Lóng Company readied the Scorpion-Spiders. Levers were pulled and gears rotated tiredly against each other. The heavy wheels that carried the metal crossbow transported the gigantic framework to the right point, and its arrow was aimed at the shadow in the sky.

Aang saw the net almost one second too late. It came from Zuko’s blind side. He pushed him away just before another net was shot into the sky. The wind ran right through the space between the ropes. But fire didn’t. The red cloud of light swallowed the net whole.

Aang didn’t think. The wind pushed Zuko forward as strongly as it could. Even though Zuko wanted to fight, not fly, Aang wouldn’t have it. He wouldn’t watch Zuko be shredded to pieces by dragon hunters, like a paper puppet.

Not far from there, that same night, two pairs of hands exchanged money and a picture was offered. The criminal they were after was a big threat to the Nation, but they must be captured alive. If any harm was done to them, consequences would be severe. We’re talking about important people here. Don’t disappoint.

Aang and Zuko talked about the event later, as they searched for food.

“I had everything under control!”

“Why do you always say that? You never have _anything_ under control!” Aang argued. “They almost caught you again!”

Aang was staring to get tired of the Lóng Company.

They walked through the forest. Well, Zuko walked. Aang mostly leaped from branch to branch, because it was more fun.

“Did you find anything?” he asked.

Zuko shook his head.

“There’s nothing to hunt here”

“You could eat some fruits!” Aang suggested. “I’ll go see if I…”

“Shh!”

Aang immediately fell silent. Zuko was trying to listen for something— a very distant hustle, somewhere ahead of them.

Sound traveled through air, and so Aang left his physical form and swept past Zuko and through the branches and bushes to find what lied ahead.

He heard it a second before he saw it. It was a village, busy and filled with people. The countess boots and shoes lifted a curtain of dust as the townspeople made their way through their daily lives. A whirlwind of greens, beiges and yellows that made up the clothes, buildings and the fabric signs that hung from the walls. Big Earth Kingdom characters announced news of victories and fantastic feats in battle. Guards patrolled the streets, with their heavy armors, and ostrich horses pulled carts from one place to another.

As soon as Zuko caught up with him, Aang grabbed onto his arm.

“Zuko, look!” He exclaimed. “I think we might find some food for you here”

**灵魂**

If either Aang or Zuko had been a little bit smarter and had figured out that asking around if anyone knew anything about the Water Tribes or the Avatar would have been a good idea, then maybe they would also be able to come up with an actual plan. Instead, they were so useless that they needed both the information _and_ the plan shoved into their faces by someone else.

They went to the market to buy food and maybe some clean clothes when they overheard a conversation between two vendors:

“The Swamp Spirit, yes” the youngest one said. “Don’t even think about it. It’s not worth it”

“You have to understand” the old one insisted. “That we’re desperate”

“No, no, _you_ have to understand” the boy continued. “Remember the Water Tribe warriors?”

Aang’s head perked up. He glanced at the two vendors and roughly elbowed Zuko in the ribs.

“Hey!” Zuko snapped. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Shh!”

“How to forget them” the older man laughed. “They had the finest furs I’ve ever seen! I still had some that I bought from them”

“My mom says the spirit made them vanish”

Zuko and Aang exchanged a quick glance.

“Vanish?” The man frowned. “The whole fleet?”

“The whole tribe! It’s gone!”

Aang quickly pushed past people and made his way towards the two vendors.

“And the spirit killed them?”

“That’s what my mom said! She got news from my aunt in Omashu. They know what’s up in there”

“Uh, excuse me” Aang intervened. “What did you say about the Water Tribe?”

“It’s gone” the young vendor said. “The Southern Water Tribe. Completely wiped off the map. Like the airbenders!” His eyes widened. “Wait, you’re an airbender”

His stomach dropped. His breath hitched. Three years. He had seen Gyatso for the last time only three years ago…

But he didn’t let himself be distracted.

“Uh, yeah. I am. What did you say the Swamp Spirit did?” He asked. Wait, something didn’t make sense. “How did the Swamp Spirit get to the South Pole?”

“Well” the younger vendor said. “My mom says the Spirit used to be a penguin spirit, but now that the Southern Water Tribe is gone, it came to live with the cat-gators in the swamp to haunt us. And it became the Swamp Spirit”

“A penguin spirit!” The man laughed. “No offense, but your mom says a lot of thing. Didn’t she say that the rocks spoke to her?”

“Shut up!” The boy whined. “And it was true! I was there! I heard a voice!”

“We don’t have time for this” Zuko said suddenly. He took two long strides towards the two vendors and with the most threatening expression he could master, he said: “Tell us what you know. Now!”

“Okay!” The younger vendor raised his hands and took a step back. “Okay! Okay! Jeez! The Swamp Spirit. It’s real. My mom saw it. My little brother was sick, so she took him to the swamp. There are rumors that say… well, that the spirit will heal the people in need”

“Did it heal your brother?” The old vendor asked.

The boy hesitated for a moment.

“…Yes. But it was very dangerous!” He insisted. “You shouldn’t go there. Not in a million years. It’s infested with cat-gators and vine monsters. And what the spirit said…”

Zuko leaned closer.

“What did it say?”

The boy swallowed.

“I wasn’t there, you see, but my mom swears that she heard it confess to… you see…”

“What is it?” Aang insisted.

“It… confessed to have made the Water Tribe disappeared” he finished. “That’s how I know it was the same spirit! It confessed!”

“Are you sure it wasn’t a trick?” Aang asked. “Spirits lie all the time”

The vendor looked away.

“I wasn’t there! Stop pestering me with questions! I don’t know!”

“I don’t know about you” The older vendor told Aang. “But all of this sounds like fairy tales to me”

Aang convinced Zuko to rent a room at a hotel despite Zuko’s protests. Zuko slept for as little as possible and, as soon as the sun set, Aang woke him up against his better judgment and they both sneaked out of the village, towards the infamous swamp, already half knowing who they would find inside.

**灵魂**

Zuko didn’t firebend a lot when they traveled through the Earth Kingdom. They always moved when it was dark enough for a single spark to give away your location, and there weren’t many obstacles to be aware of in the sky, so apart from the occasional campfire, Aang was thankful that Zuko abstained from firebending too much.

But this time, he held a small flame in the palm of his hand as they both advanced through the swamp. Its border was less than half a mile away from the village, but when they looked back, they couldn’t see anything but swamp in every direction, even upon taking only two steps into the forest. No matter how close to the border they were, it always felt like they were in the heart of the marsh. When Aang flew above the treetops to see better, the darkness wouldn’t let him distinguish where the swamp started and ended. It went on and on forever.

A paralyzing sense of dread invaded him. For a moment, he had the feeling that if he didn’t go back, he would lose Zuko and never be able to find him again, so we went back down and took his hand. Zuko squeezed tightly and— perhaps unconsciously— pulled him closer.

There was nothing to worry about. It was only trees and swamp water and… was that a cat-gator?

A shadow swam across the water in their direction. Zuko raised his hand, and when the light reached it, the shadow banished.

Which is what shadows do when light touches them, right? Ha ha, there was nothing to worry about!

He still squeezed Zuko’s hand. Just in case (Zuko squeezed back).

A twig snapped.

They quickly turned around and found a pair of eyes staring into them.

They both screamed and ran as fast as they could. At some point, the fire died out, and their hands nearly lost each other for a second. Something grabbed Aang’s leg and before Zuko could pull him out, he panicked and turned into wind again.

“Aang?” Zuko called, with a tinge of fear in his voice.

Aang tried to blow wind into his hair, to let him know he was there, but he couldn’t find him. He heard his voice, but he wasn’t there. He started to desperately search for a flicker of fire or a silhouette cut against the water, but Zuko’s voice sounded more and more distant with every passing second.

“Aang!”

“Zuko!” Aang crawled out of the air and back onto the dirt. He clumsily got up to his feet and searched with his hands for his partner. “Zuko! I’m here!”

A hand grabbed his. Aang gasped and tried to pull away.

“Stop that! It’s me!” Zuko protested.

Just hearing his voice made the fear dissipate for a moment.

“Zuko…” Aang threw his arms around his neck, and Zuko clumsily hugged him back. They still held hands when they pulled away.

There was someone watching them. A figure that stood tall in the middle of the water, surrounded by cat-gators and enveloped in a cloak of mist. Every muscle in Aang’s body tensed up, like struck by a shock of electricity, despite already knowing who it was.

A strident laugh broke the night.

“So much for the brave warriors!” Katara mocked them, but there was no malice in her voice “I can’t believe you got scared by some mist”

Aang blushed furiously. He refused to let Katara believe he was a coward.

“I wasn’t scared!” He protested. “Zuko was”

“Hey! That’s not true!”

Despite definitely not being scared at all, Aang couldn’t help but glance at the cat-gators in the water, observing them with cold, wet eyes. Katara seemed to notice his not-uneasiness.

“You guys can go” she told the cat-gators. “These are my friends”

The cat-gators didn’t seem very convinced, but eventually they followed Katara’s orders and left them alone. Zuko finally decided to light a fire again. The warm light spilled through the spaces between the vines and the trees and over the muddy water below. Katara looked different… something had changed in the last year, since they last saw her, but it took Aang a moment to put a finger on it.

“You control the cat-gators?” Zuko asked.

“Oh! No, they’re just friends” Katara explained. She took a step forward. “So, what brings you to the swamp? And you better have a good—”

“You” Aang blurted out. “Uh… we were looking for you”

Katara frowned, and Aang realized that may have come out the wrong way.

“Wow, again?” She teased, raising an eyebrow. “I’m flattered”

“…What Aang means,” Zuko intervened, sounding embarrassed and shooting Aang a quick glare “is that… well, we want to help your tribe. With the Avatar”

Katara’s smile dropped. Aang suddenly realized what was so different about her. She still had her hair loopy thingies, but her hair was down instead of pulled into a braid. A pair of waterskins hung at her hip, and her arms and legs were protected by leather gauntlets and boots with metal plates respectively. She was the living image of a waterbending warrior, who stood bravely between danger and her tribe.

“What _about_ the Avatar?” She asked. Her voice had lost all the playful teasing and now sounded hard and tense.

“The Fire Nation wants them” Zuko replied. “We just want to help you protect your tribe”

 _Because of what happened to the Air Nomads,_ Aang thought. _Because they’re gone and I’m the last one. Because I’m gone, too. Because it was my fault then, and it can’t be my fault now._

Katara observed them for a long moment.

“Why now?” She asked.

And so Zuko gave his explanation. That he was tired of running. That the Fire Nation (his family) had brought destruction and suffering to the world, that he couldn’t stand and watch the hunt for the Avatar destroy another Nation knowing that he could do something about it. He felt a little too guilty and a little too powerful as the Prince of the Fire Nation. As he spoke, Aang couldn’t stop thinking that only Zuko would be so certain and doubtless of his own capability to stop the Fire Nation. Or to at least put an obstacle on their way (the most important obstacle, too).

On the other hand, if anyone could truly hurt the Fire Nation, it must be Zuko.

Aang didn’t have much to add. He nodded and agreed that he didn’t want to run anymore, but he saw no reason to clarify the underlying causes of his change of mind. It wasn’t something they needed to talk about.

When they finished, Katara nodded thoughtfully.

“I think the chieftains will want to hear about this” she said. “Come on! Before my brother gets all paranoid”

She guided through the fog and the vines, standing always two steps ahead of Zuko so his fire lit her way. As she moved, she lifted her arms and pushed away vines and plants without touching them.

“How do you do that?” Aang asked.

“I bend the water inside the plants” she explained. “…It’s a fun little trick”

She didn’t just bend, she… completely altered the landscape with her bending. She created bridges to cross and walls of vines to hide the path. They could pass just above the cat-gator infested waters without getting wet, and if the vines were as heavy and flexible as they looked like, Aang didn’t want to find out what powerful of a weapon they could be.

The swamp looked a bit less scary now that Katara was there. She was talking to Zuko, something about long travels at night and cooking without fire, and they looked at each other fondly, like two long lost friends. She pointed at different spots and he extended his hand towards them, casting light where it was needed. At one point, she asked him to turn off the fire, and he did. For a moment, they were swallowed by darkness, and Aang instinctively searched for Zuko’s hand (Zuko squeezed back). But as their eyes got adjusted to the dark, they distinguished the dim warm glow coming from among the trees, heard the distant talking and laughing, and the sound of Katara’s walking as her boots splashed on the water.

“Come on! We’re almost there” she rushed. “But… I think it’ll be better if I go first. You know, so they won’t freeze you on sight”

Aang didn’t want to get frozen again, so he nodded, despite not being sure if Katara could see him.

They came as close to the camp as possible, until Katara silently signaled them to stay put. She then crossed the curtain of vines. For a second, that was the last they had of her, until she started talking.

“Guys, I want to ask everyone to _please_ remain calm and not attack anyone. I just found a couple of _friends_ and I’d like them not to die, if that’s possible”

Something splashed in the water. Aang cranked his neck to see it, but it was already gone.

“Uh…” he mumbled. “Zuko?”

“Shh. I’m trying to listen”

He was paying a lot of attention to Katara.

Another splash. Okay, there was _definitely_ as shadow there. _Something_ that moved through the water, but it was so quick and silent Aang couldn’t tell in which direction it was moving towards, or where it was at the moment. His heart picked up.

Please let Katara introduce them quickly.

“No, they’re not… well, they’re not _with_ the Fire Nation” Katara argued. “But we’re not taking prisoners _or_ killing anyone tonight!”

The snap of a twig. The swept of ropes against the ground and a yelp of surprise as the net lifted them off the ground. Aang immediately jumped out of his body and into the air (and out of the net, too. That was the important part), but Zuko was left trapped inside.

He tried to burn the ropes, but as soon as he produced a flame, a flash of flying metal cut the air and hit him on the head.

“Ouch! Hey!” He searched for the attacker in the ground. “Who was that!?”

“No firebending!” A male voice commanded.

“Sokka!” Katara cried. “ _What_ are you doing?”

The boy— Sokka!— pointed at his catch.

“I caught a firebender” he said.

“That’s Zuko, you idiot!” She immediately bent the water into a whip and cut right through the ropes, dropping Zuko. Aang caught him right before he touched the ground and softened his fall.

“Katara!” Sokka whined. “It took me _days_ to finish that net!”

“Maybe if you spent less time playing soldier and more time helping _me_ around, you would know how to knit a net faster” she chided him. Aang watched her approach Zuko and offer him a hand. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine” Zuko scoffed, but accepted her hand nevertheless, directing a glare at Sokka.

Sokka looked… actually, he looked almost the same as before, but taller. He was wearing his sealskin, a big warm coat that must have been very useful back in the south, but that looked like a minor inconvenience in the swamp. He held a sharp metal boomerang in his right hand. And he had an air of authority that he carried differently from his younger self. Where he had once seemed proud and maybe a little bit arrogant, now he looked serious and mature, with cold, intelligent eyes that would almost remind Aang of Azula if they didn’t lack the cruelty. Yes, Sokka carried himself like a leader.

“Wait” Sokka said. “Isn’t this guy the Fire Lord’s son?”

“He’s the one who helped me escape Azula’s ship” Katara reminded him. “He’s a _friend_. And Aang is…”

“He’s here” Zuko assured.

Sokka looked around, and Aang decided that would be the perfect time to… introduce himself.

“Where is he?” He asked. “I can’t see him. Is this a trap?” He pointed the boomerang at Zuko. “I knew it! Fire Nation spies!”

Aang appeared and tapped on Sokka’s shoulder. The young warrior jumped nearly three feet into the air and scrambled away from him.

“Where did _you_ come from?”

“I was always here” Aang smiled.

Sokka looked at him, then at Katara and then at Zuko.

“You three will be the death of me” he said, walking backwards and slowly making his way towards the village, not taking his eyes off them.

“I don’t think you need that much help with that” Katara teased him. “Careful where you step! I think I saw a piranha eel down there!”

Sokka tripped and stepped into the water. A harmless little fish suddenly leaped into the air in that moment. Sokka screeched and hit it with his boomerang. Katara broke into laughter.

She looked… so much happier than the last time they’d seen her.

“I really, really hate you!” Sokka yelled. “Now come on, and bring those spies here for interrogation”

Katara chuckled and shook her head.

“Well, spies, you heard my brother” she hissed, crossing her arms and putting on the best evil-mom-tone she could master.

**灵魂**

_Zuko didn’t know Aang was the Avatar._

_Or that he used to be. Before the iceberg._

_He didn’t know he wasn’t a normal airbender._

_(Aang had the feeling that something terribly wrong happened to him inside the ice)._

**灵魂**

The Southern Water Tribe didn’t vanish. To imply it had vanished, it would be required to define it as something that couldn’t be moved or displaced, only destroyed. Something such as a city, a village or a camp of tents and igloos. But just because the South Pole was empty it didn’t mean the South Pole wasn’t alive. The South Pole isn’t a place, at least not in a way that matters.

The eyes staring at them were of many colors. Most of them— nearly half of them— were green, or brown, or grey. But a smaller half were of the purest blue in the world, the one that could only be found inside the cracks of the glaciers.

And to imply that it had vanished would ignore the ones that knew of their whereabouts, who happened to be the most important people in the equation. The southerners were perfectly aware of their own survival and existence. There was no such thing as disappearance for them. Any preaching of disappearance was unimportant and irrelevant, because it didn’t come from them.

The village was an amalgam of wooden huts with roofs made of palm leaves and tents built out of hides and leathers stitched together. People gathered around the multiple campfires eating different kinds of foods and wearing different colors of clothes.

The piercing stares made Aang want to disappear (literally), and he felt a lot less awkward once they entered the tent at the end of the village.

“Ah, finally some privacy” Sokka sighed as he closed the curtain. He turned to Aang and Zuko, but especially Zuko. “Now, what are you two doing here?”

“Wait” Katara interrupted. “Aren’t we going to wait for Huu?”

“He’s out there, scaring people or something” Sokka dismissed her.

“He’s the chief of _his_ tribe” Katara argued. “He needs to be part of this”

“And I’m telling you, I’ll tell him when he comes back from his scaring-people-trip”

Zuko repeated himself all over again, with the multiple interventions from Katara (“They want to help us. I trust them”) and the occasional interruptions by Sokka (“Katara, he’s the _Fire Prince_!”). Zuko was getting sick of being constantly interrupted and put into question by Sokka, and Katara wasn’t much different. They both insisted. That Sokka never trusted Katara’s judgment, when _she_ was the one to lead the tribe to safety— made them _vanish_ from the map. That if was Zuko’s duty as Prince of the Fire Nation to stop his own country. That they had survived this long because _no one_ had found them before (Katara doing her magic sealskin mumbo-jumbo with sick villagers didn’t count, because she wasn’t doing it anymore), and that they had a very clear protocol to follow if a Fire Nation soldier ever found them, Katara, we talked about this and you _agreed!_ But Sokka, he’s had _every chance_ to hurt us and he hasn’t. Why would he do it now? We can’t trust these _firebenders_ , Katara. You know that.

Aang fidgeted with the edge of his cloak. His eyes switched between the three participants of the conversation and a sudden sense of frustration bubbled up under the surface when he realized that _he had something to say_ but every time he opened his mouth they wouldn’t stop yelling and they wouldn’t _let him_! They didn’t even realize he was in the room!

“He knows where we are” Sokka stated. “We can’t let him go”

“Sokka!”

“Well it’s true, Katara! Next thing we know, your friend is setting the entire village on fire! Just like they did to the Air Nomads!”

“Enough!” a broken voice roared and it took Aang a moment to realize it was his. “Do you think _I_ would be traveling with him if I thought that’s what he wanted? Do you think _I_ would want your tribe to… to…!?” he swallowed the lump in his throat. “Last time I ran away, I lost everything! I lost my people! I’m the last one! The Fire Nation was looking for the Avatar back then and… a—and now that I know they’re looking for the Avatar here… I can’t let them do the same to someone else!” He clenched his fists. “We came here to help. That’s all. I would _never_ work for the Fire Lord. If you don’t believe Zuko, then believe _me_ ”

He was suddenly conscious of the three pairs of eyes set on him. Zuko awkwardly reached out to touch his shoulder, but changed his mind at the last second.

Sokka stared at him with hard eyes, and Aang couldn’t help but be reminded of Azula. He didn’t have the grin or the sadistic glint in his eyes, but Aang could tell he was thinking about all the possible options and outcomes to every possible situation. They flashed through his mind at the speed of lightning. He could almost see the gears grinding inside his brain.

Katara opened her mouth to intervene, but before she could get a word out, Sokka said:

“You two are on thin freaking ice” he gestured at Aang and Zuko. “And if you really are here to help, you will have to prove it. So, no firebending” he pointed at Zuko. And then, unexpectedly, he pointed at Aang. “And no weird airbending for you either. This is a magic-free zone. Not even Katara can waterbend inside this tent”

“Wait” Aang said. “Does that mean no bending in the village, or in the tent?”

“It means no bending!” He took a step towards the entrance. “Now, let’s go outside before people get worried. And if you try anything while I’m not there, I _will_ know. I have eyes _everywhere_ ”

He made them walk out of the tent and followed closely behind. Before the curtain closed, Aang saw Katara rolling her eyes when Sokka wasn’t watching.

“So much for Chief of the South”

**灵魂**

They didn’t receive a warm welcome, just as expected. People were rightfully suspicious, and many remembered them from their stay in the south, but there was no hostility. Katara insisted that they ate with everyone else, so they got used to each other and realized they weren’t dangerous, but no matter how may jokes Aang cracked or how much he smiled, the mothers still pulled their children away from them and the men still shot them scornful glares when they passed by. Aang didn’t eat, because food would be wasted on him (and everything was meat anyways), and Zuko ate as little as possible no matter how much Katara seemed to enjoy the food.

“Well” Katara said, later. “I’d like to call that a success”

She guided them towards their tent. It was right next to her family’s tent, because Sokka insisted on keeping an eye on them, but that didn’t bother Aang in the slightest. If he tried to forget that the tent was made of dead animal skins, he could almost call it cozy. The sleeping mat was big enough for two people and there was enough space to stand up. He decided to reach into the spirit world and bring some of their stuff. If they’d be staying there for long, then a pillow wouldn’t harm anyone.

He kept everything under the roots of a tree, which he covered with a stone. Clothes and blankets neatly folded, a knife that read ‘made in the Earth Kingdom’ (or ‘Never give up without a fight’, depending on how you read it), two bedrolls, a sky bison whistle that he didn’t use anymore and a few other miscellaneous objects that he picked up during their travels. It was a place only he could access. And other spirits as well. He’d had to chase down a squirrel spirit for almost an hour after it stole Zuko’s knife.

“Thank you” Zuko bowed to Katara. “For letting us help”

“Oh, come on! That’s not necessary” Katara chuckled. “You’re my friend”

Zuko grimaced.

“I’m trying to be respectful”

But Katara was smiling, and Zuko couldn’t help but smile back.

The monks used to say that going into the spirit world was incredibly difficult. It required years of practice and meditation before your spirit could detach itself from your body for long enough to experience a flicker of what lies beyond. But for Aang, it had always been easy. He could reach out with his hand and pick up whatever he needed. He could even enter the Spirit World by walking! So pulling out pillows and blankets and clothes from there was easy.

“So, this is where you’ve been hiding?” Zuko asked, outside the tent.

“It was Sokka’s idea” Katara explained. “To leave the South Pole. And I was the only one who knew what it’s like out here, so I’d say it was teamwork” There was shifting and movement. “I told them what Azula told me. That she wanted to… _negotiate_ with us. About the Avatar. So we couldn’t be there when she arrived”

“Azula can’t tell negotiation apart from blackmail” Zuko said. “You and your brother were smart to avoid that”

“Oh, I know” Katara laughed.

Aang walked out of the tent and saw then sitting on top of a giant root, as wide as a fallen tree. It was… It was nice to see them like this. He knew they would get along. They had that same strength and determination that Aang admired so much, yet their differences were equally as charming. Despite being irritable at times, Zuko had a noble and honorable soul. He stood for what was right no matter what, even if it had taken him a bit to find his way. And he never gave up. He never ran away, even when it was in his best interest. And deep down, he was sensitive, and caring and brave and loving and he was the person Aang was choosing to live his life with. He was… incredible. Everything, from the way he held a sword against his father after so many years to the way he held Aang’s hand whenever they visited an Air Temple… and the way he trusted Aang, how he listened to him and paid attention to his quirks and his weak spots and how careful he was with them, how he treated him with so much _love_ … It all made Aang aware of just how lucky he was to have him. He couldn’t understand how people could have rejected him before. To him, loving Zuko was a privilege.

And Katara… Aang didn’t know Katara as well as he knew Zuko, but what their relationship lacked in familiarity, it made up with intrigue and fascination. She had been brave and caring and selfless from the day they met. She had been strong enough to stand up to Azula and to lead her people into safety, and she was courageous enough to become a true warrior. Yet she was also sweet, and funny, and a little mischievous and playful at times. And when this incredible person laid her eyes on him, whenever she simply laughed with him or teased him, or asked if he was okay, his heart skipped a beat.

Aang wasn’t stupid. He knew the difference between love and a crush and he knew who his heart belonged to. His bond with Katara wasn’t love. It was an invitation to know her better, to discover her, to understand her and, maybe, some day, to let a spark of feeling grow into something brighter.

…Yeah. He liked to see them get along.

**灵魂**

Zuko fell asleep that night. Aang didn’t (of course). They spent minutes lying together inside the tent and holding hands like the sappy couple they were. And Aang couldn’t keep his hands off his hair.

“What are you doing?” Zuko chuckled as Aang kept messing up his hair.

“Since you won’t be turning into a dragon to sleep anytime soon, I need to make up for it” Aang explained. “Your hair is very soft”

“You know” Zuko stated with a grin. “We might be able to sneak out and go to sleep somewhere else”

Aang stared at him.

“Do you want to sleep in the swamp?”

“Do you?”

“I don’t sleep! I can’t sleep even if I try. Besides, I don’t want you to get caught in one of Sokka’s nets again”

“He’s… definitely resourceful”

Aang smiled.

“I still like Katara better”

At the mention of her name, Zuko looked away. He was blushing slightly.

“She’s nice, isn’t she?” Aang insisted.

Zuko shrugged, still not looking at him in the eye.

“I guess” he said. Aang’s hand never left his head, so he reached to hold it in place against his scalp. Aang blushed. “Think you can make up for me not being a dragon for a few days like this?”

Aang softly pulled at his hair. To be honest, he didn’t know how much pulling was painful, because he had never had any hair, but Zuko never seemed to complain. In fact, he visibly enjoyed it.

“I can try. You don’t even spend that much time as a dragon, anyways” he smiled. Zuko was smiling, too. All the tension from the last months had completely abandoned his face. Now, he could close his eyes, relax and enjoy his boyfriend’s caresses. “You seem happy” Aang pointed out. Zuko opened his eyes.

“I’m just glad we found them” he said. “I was worried they may have… gotten to them first”

Aang brushed his thumb over his cheekbone.

“You really care about them” he said.

“I mean, of course!” Zuko said. “It’s the right thing to do. We can’t let my father…” he trailed off, and for a moment Aang thought it was because of the thought of his father, but then he realized it wasn’t that. Zuko had stopped talking for him.

It was then, perhaps, when it finally hit Aang that Zuko regretted what they did to the Air Nomads almost as much as Aang did. Of course, no one on the planet could ever be as devastated by it as Aang was. No one else knew or could ever know what it was like. But if someone came close to caring about the Air Nomads as much as Aang, not necessarily in the sense of loneliness and hopelessness, but in the sense of anger and horror, that was _Zuko_.

He felt the guilt as if he’d done it himself.

He was so horrified by it that he was willing to go to lengths that Aang wouldn’t dare to go to keep it from happening again.

His breath hitched. There was a lump in his throat. He tried to take in one deep, irregular breath.

“Aang?” Zuko asked. “Are you okay? Look, I… I’m sorry”

He was alone. He really was the _last one_.

They were dead. They were _all dead_. Monk Gyatso was dead. His friends were dead. They needed him— the _world_ needed him, and Aang refused. That was the only thing (and the last thing) they ever asked from him. And he ran away. Because he was a coward. And now they were all dead because of him.

And the _Fire Lord’s son_ was more determined to fix it than he was.

He was vaguely aware of Zuko’s arms pulling him towards him. He buried his face on his shoulder.

If only he’d stayed, he could have protected them. And now the Water Tribe wouldn’t be in danger. No one would be in danger! The world would be in balance, and there would be peace, and the four nations would live in harmony, and none of this would have happened!

His body shook with tiny sobs. He really was the last airbender. And even if he had Zuko, in a sense, he would always be alone. It was his fault and there was nothing left to do about it.

And everyone else had to pay the price.

Zuko held him until Aang couldn’t be held anymore, when his hands would go right through his body as if he were no more solid than air. And Aang desperately wanted the comfort of his touch back, but his mind was too scattered and broken to force itself into something resembling a body.

So he had to cry alone.

After a moment, Zuko spoke.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

His voice was only a string, a weak sound that could be barely heard.

Aang looked up. He couldn’t hold the truth anymore. He needed to tell him the full story. Zuko deserved it, and Aang couldn’t deal with it on his own no matter how hard he tried. He needed to tell him the truth, about why the Air Nomads were dead.

But when he opened his mouth to talk, no sound came out. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t tell Zuko. He couldn’t bear his disappointment when he realized his lover was a coward. He would think less of him. He would be ashamed and disgusted. Aang couldn’t bring himself to confess to his crime.

Do you want to talk about it?

“No” Aang mumbled. “I… I think I’ll just go outside now. Goodnight, Zuko”

Without giving a goodnight kiss, he disappeared, and the wind brushed the curtains as he flew out of the tent.

The air was hot and damp in the swamp. The clothes never quite dried unless the water was bent out of them. The cat-gators patrolled the waters, well aware of their undesired guests. The campfires were put out, but the lanterns that hung from the wooden huts casted a dim, warm light everywhere where it was needed. All the southerners had taken refuge in their tents.

There wasn’t much to do at night, and Aang didn’t have the energy to fly and explore. He was tired and shame-stricken. He wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.

The air became dense and heavy, like honey. It was the kind of air that was impossible to breathe, but when it filled your lungs, it made you sink instead of float.

“Aang”

Katara stood near his tent, with her arms crossed and her expression twisted in a stern frown. She was looking around, searching for him.

“Aang, I’m getting complains about the air. Whatever you’re doing, stop it” she commanded. “I’m getting a headache”

Aang slowly descended back to the ground. His feet barely touched the grass.

“I’m sorry” he said, with a broken string of voice.

Katara’s frown disappeared.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it”

He couldn’t disappoint Zuko and he couldn’t disappoint Katara.

She took a step towards him, but he didn’t look at her. Instead, he stared at the grass under his feet. In the dim lantern light, he could make out tiny blue swamp flowers.

“Aang? What is it? You can talk to me”

He clenched his fists.

“I said I don’t want to!”

The wind picked up suddenly. It blew on their clothes and hair, harsh and sharp like the ice.

Katara closed her eyes tight until the wind stopped. She looked at Aang with a strange mix of pity and fondness.

“Are you sure you sure?”

Aang nodded. He just _couldn’t_.

“Okay then” Katara finally accepted. She sat on top of a root that bordered the village. “Hey, Aang, I meant to ask you before” Aang looked up and found her blue eyes staring at him. “…How long have you been with Zuko?”

His heart leaped.

“What?”

“Traveling, I mean” Katara clarified. “Have you been together ever since you left the South Pole?”

“Yeah. Pretty much” Aang replied. “We spent about a year in the Fire Nation, but it became too much, so we left” he smiled a little. “He’s all I have”

“Why would he go to back to the Fire Nation after his father…?” she trailed off.

“I think because…” Aang shrugged. “I think he blamed himself, and he hoped to make up for whatever happened”

“He blamed himself? For getting burned?”

Aang nodded. Katara looked away.

“I was so angry with him after he left. I felt like he had betrayed our trust” she smacked her forehead. “I’m an idiot”

“You’re not an idiot” Aang said. “You were just… worried about your tribe”

The Southern Tribe. The wooden huts were placed in a sort of circle, or a square, that protectively surrounded the space where the tents were. The people patrolling the village, sharpening weapons and skinning dead animals all had green or brown eyes, and most of them only covered themselves with simple loincloths, though a few wore armors made of wood, leaves and leathers. None of them wore anything blue. Those who did were already safely asleep.

Aang turned to Katara.

“In the town, I heard that a Swamp Spirit had made the tribe disappear. But that’s you, isn’t it?” He asked. “You managed to hide them all”

“Well, my brother and I did” she smirked. “But yeah. I took them out of the South Pole”

“How did you do it?”

“I borrowed the idea from you” she said. “We hid in an iceberg until we reached land”

He didn’t know how to respond to that.

“And these people?” He asked. “How did you know there were people in the swamp?”

“We didn’t” she replied. “And they’re waterbenders, like me. They’re the third Water Tribe”

“Wow” Aang mumbled. “I didn’t know there was a third Water Tribe”

“No one did. They didn’t even know there were other waterbenders outside the swamp!”

Aang couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be so isolated from the outside world. The knowledge that not only were there two other nations like yours, but that all three of you were in danger… all of it thrown in your face out of nowhere. He wondered if they even knew about the war.

“Katara…” Aang started. “Is it true that the Avatar is back? Are they here?”

Katara looked at him for one long moment, holding her breath, unsure of what to say. She was trying to read the honesty in Aang’s eyes, to hush her brother’s anxiety and to finally decide if she trusted him.

After what felt like forever, she replied:

“She’s here” and a second later, she added: “Do you want to meet her?”

**灵魂**

_One day, Zuko woke up feeling actually happy. He made tea for Aang and for his uncle, he smiled a lot, he let his hair fall free from his topknot and he even hugged Iroh when he first saw him in the morning._

_Aang didn’t know why that was. Maybe it was because they had shared a first kiss the previous night. It happened in the roofs of the palace, away from cold, intelligent golden eyes and under the stars. Aang held the back of his neck as their lips brushed together perfectly, like they were made for each other. He had overheard Zuko talking to Iroh about something earlier that day, something about how to tell if someone felt the same way about you. When Zuko came to talk to him, everything clicked, and he had been so nervous (more than he had ever seen him before), Aang took pity on him and made the first move before Zuko could finish his clumsy, romantic rambling. It had been one of the sweetest moments in his life._

_So Zuko woke up happy, for a change. And Aang stupidly thought that would be a good day, without drama or anger or crying or any member of the Royal Family to mess up a nice moment. Just a day to enjoy with Zuko._

_But of course, nothing could be easy, could it?_

_Because later that day, Zuko had to look for some geology scrolls in the royal library for his studies, and Aang went with him, because how could he not want to be with him when he was so happy? Besides, Zuko said he didn’t hate studying when Aang was with him._

_So he helped him look for scrolls and got rid of the ones that looked boring. He dropped them on his head from the top shelves and snatched them from his hands when he wasn’t looking. Instead of growling or glaring or getting frustrated, Zuko laughed._

_He laughed._

_Aang had never heard him laugh before. It was the most incredible sound he’d ever heard._

_They ended up racing through the shelves and scroll cases like two little kids. If any of the guards saw Zuko and thought he was crazy for running and laughing alone, they wouldn’t dare to say it._

_Then Zuko turned around a corner and came to a halt._

_Aang was standing there._ Standing _. With his feet on the ground and perfectly visible for everyone to see him there._

_Zuko’s hand snapped forward and gripped his arm._

_“Aang, what are you doing!?” He hissed._

_There were a series of items hanging on the wall, placed in horizontal position over multiple black and sharp and rusty iron hooks. Artifacts made of wood, from an ancient technology unknown to his nation. Dozens of wooden staffs exposed in the Royal Library._

_“Zuko” Aang called. “What are they doing here?”_

_Aang knew the answer. He knew the answer before Zuko said it, but hearing it out loud made it even worse._

_“These were taken from surviving airbenders as trophies” he explained. “After the battles at the temples, many airbenders escaped. The Fire Lord would offer a reward for every airbender they caught, and whoever found them would bring their staff to him as proof”_

_Zuko’s voice was hesitant and almost careful, like he regretted saying the truth._

_“It wasn’t a battle” Aang stated. He disappeared, and Zuko didn’t see him again until days later._

_He was lost, somewhere between the strings of time, where he would watch but not touch, hear but not be. He wandered through the bones of his childhood, his home, his family, he observed the terraces and pagodas that used to be so full of life, only a few months ago—a hundred years ago. Now they were cold, and dry, and empty._

_He read the ancient scrolls, hidden inside chests in the temple library. Sometimes they dropped from his hands, when his eyes got too watery or when his throat constricted to the point he shouldn’t be able to breathe. And when he didn’t breathe, he didn’t die. And when he touched the scrolls, he couldn’t lift them. And when he looked at his hands, he couldn’t see them. Not until the waves of pain died down, and the lump in his throat receded, and he could blink and see clearly again._

_(Something had gone terribly wrong inside the ice)._

_He was the last airbender. He was alone. He was the last survivor, he knew he was…_

_But he wasn’t. He studied every scroll, every scripture, every writing inside amulets and every writing in the walls he could find. Airbenders couldn’t become air. Airbenders couldn’t lose their bodies when they got upset. Airbenders could bend the air, like a waterbender bent the water and an earthbender could bend earth. But waterbenders weren’t water, and earthbenders weren’t earth. And airbender was a person with a body. If Aang wasn’t that— not anymore, at least, then what was he?_

_He returned to the palace with a low head, feeling nauseous upon seeing the red roofs, the white buildings and the soldiers marching through the streets, because he was reminded of who did this to them._

_Zuko held him tightly and didn’t ask questions when Aang begged him not to. They embraced in silence, and Aang arrived to the conclusion that he couldn’t be a survivor, because that would imply that he had survived._

_Somewhere in the South Pole, under miles of water and ice, half-eaten by the polar fish and the merciless cold, a body lied at the bottom of the sea, cuddled up close to the skeleton of a giant, fluffy flying beast._

**灵魂**

Katara led Aang through the jungle of vines and roots and leaves, across the water until they touched land again. There was a small hut standing completely alone near the water, without a single lantern to give away its existence, but a string of laughter broke through its walls and reached their ears.

She opened the door and Aang followed. Inside, there was an old man wearing only a loincloth sitting cross-legged in the floor, playing with a toddler. He bent the water around her in a tiny spectacle of ice shards and raindrops. The little girl extended her arms and took over the water, clumsily bending it and imitating her teacher. A single lantern hung from the roof.

“Master Huu” Katara greeted him. The little girl’s head perked up.

“Katara!” she yelled, like a battle cry, and immediately threw herself on top of her. She hugged her, and Katara hugged back.

“Please, Master Katara. Just call me Huu” The old man replied with a smile. “We started without you. I hope you don’t…”

Huu’s eyes finally settled on Aang.

“Aang, this is Huu” Katara introduced him while holding the little girl’s hand like a mother would. “He’s the chief of the Foggy Swamp tribe. Huu, this is Aang. He came here to help”

“Nice to meet you, sir” Aang smiled.

The Master’s eyes widened.

“An airbender…” he mumbled. “We haven’t seen one in… well, a hundred years”

Oh, yeah. There wasn’t much hiding his tattoos, was it?

Aang’s smile faltered.

“Aang!” Katara suddenly exclaimed, a realization finally dawning to her. “You could be Korra’s airbending master when the time comes!”

Oh, wow. He… well, did he even have anything to say about it? It wasn’t as if there were any other options.

“I guess I could” Aang agreed.

“Airbending?” The little girl asked. “I want to see!”

“…Maybe not now” Aang replied.

“These are great news” Huu said. “Her airbending has been quite a source of concern for us. We were starting to think she may never master it” he dropped his grip on the water and let it splash on the floor. With some difficulty, he got up to his feet. “Well, I think we’re done for today. My back is killing me”

“We’ll stay here for a bit longer” Katara told him. “Aang wanted to meet Korra”

“That’s a good idea!” Huu agreed. “We should talk in the morning. I have a few questions for your friend”

He then crawled back into the water, his skin being replaced by dark scales and his arms and legs turning into short scaly claws. Soon, instead of a man, there was a cat-gator, swimming away and back towards the camp.

“Well!” Katara clasped her hands together. “Aang, this is Korra. Korra, this is Aang. He’s a friend”

“I’m the Avatar!” Korra announced proudly.

Aang gulped. He… of course, he _knew_ , but seeing her there made it _real_. That she was the Avatar now. Not him.

“Nice to meet you, Avatar Korra” Aang said.

“Look what I can do!”

She stomped and kicked, raising stones and creating fire from her hands, a tiny tornado of earth, water and fire. Aang yelped and jumped away when a rock lifted beneath his feet.

“Woah!” He gasped, trying to get away from danger.

“She’s very… enthusiastic” Katara said with a smile. “I think she’s gonna make a great Avatar”

“I’m going to kill the Fire Lord!” Korra yelled.

Aang swallowed.

_We need you, Aang._

Korra was only three years old. She couldn’t even speak properly.

“Hey!” Aang exclaimed. “Do you want to see an airbending trick?”

He picked up two rocks from the ground and turned himself into air, making the pebbles spin around each other.

“Woah…” Korra mumbled. “I want to do that!”

“I can teach you!” Aang promised, once he came back to the ground. “Well, most of it. But not yet. The Avatar needs to learn all the elements in order”

“There’s an order?” Katara asked.

“Yeah! Water, earth, fire and air. It’s a cycle”

“I didn’t know” Katara confessed. “We were teaching her waterbending because that’s the only thing we can do”

“She will need an earthbending teacher next” Aang said. “But don’t worry! We still have time, right?”

Katara looked away.

“Right” She said.

**灵魂**

The following days were easier than Aang expected. Chief Huu interrogated both Aang and Zuko, and eventually decided they were trustworthy enough to deserve a trial period. He didn’t fully agree with Chief Sokka’s prohibition of bending in the camp (Aang had completely forgotten about it), but he would respect it if it made the southerners feel safer.

Of course, no one felt safe around Zuko. They quickly accepted Aang though. They didn’t glare at him or avoid him anymore. He was allowed to partake into different activities with the rest of the tribe and he had gained the permission to bend under Chief Sokka’s supervision. Zuko wasn’t that lucky, but he stubbornly refused to complain, which was new, to say the least. He often went with Sokka to hunt, because Sokka didn’t want to let him out of his sight (and because Zuko was good with swords), while Aang stayed in the village with Katara.

She was really nice, even if she wasn’t as nice as she used to be back in the South Pole. She turned him down whenever he suggested playing a game and smiled at his jokes instead of laughing. They were genuine smiles! But not as fun as her laugh. Maybe it was because she was older, but Aang was older too, and he thought it was really sad that Katara had to give up having fun in order to be like an adult. She was still a kid, after all. So one night, he took her torchbug hunting. Of course they didn’t actually kill the torchbugs when they caught them. They just kept them in glass jars for one night. He argued that Korra would like to see them, and Katara accepted to go with him. She guided him to where she always found torchbugs, not far from the village, and he showed her how to catch them. When her fingers grazed his, as she took the glass jar from his hands, his heart raced. Aang tried to blow the torchbugs _inside_ the jar, but they kept flying away. Katara seemed to be having actual fun chasing the angry torchbugs, which Aang was thankful for. After catching at least half a dozen of them, Katara sealed the mouth of the jar with ice and sat on the root of a tree. She held the glowing jar on her hands.

“I didn’t think chasing torchbugs would leave me so tired” she breathed.

“They’re fast, aren’t they?” Aang commented. “I used to catch these all the time during my travels. It was super fun”

“Does Zuko ever go torchbug hunting with you?” She asked.

“Sometimes. But he always gets frustrated and the torchbugs would fly away” he chuckled. “That’s why I let him sleep tonight”

“It must be boring” Katara said. “To be always awake while everyone else goes to sleep”

“Kinda” Aang admitted. “It gets lonely”

Katara gave him a long look.

“Aang” she said. “If you ever need to talk, even if it’s at night, you know I’m here, right?”

Aang nodded.

“I know” he said. “That’s why I asked you to come along today! I wanted to spend time with you”

Katara blinked and looked away.

“Well, thanks” she said with a proud tiny smile.

Aang smiled back. She was pretty. Did he mention she was pretty? That wasn’t the most important part, of course, but… she was really pretty. Especially with her fighting garments and with her hair down. Was it weird that he liked the way the boots and gauntlets looked on her? Because they made her look like a brave, strong warrior.

She was… pretty.

She looked at him, and he realized he’d been staring.

“Is everything okay?” She asked. Aang nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, everything…”

He heard something.

No, really, there was a noise in the forest. Katara realized immediately and went quiet.

Aang squinted. It sounded vaguely familiar. Heavy wooden wheels and a series of footsteps.

His eyes widened.

The Lóng Company. They’d found them.

**灵魂**

The bolts were loaded on the crossbows. The mercenaries got in position. And Zuko was…

Zuko wasn’t on the village. No one had seen him. Aang’s heart raced painfully inside his chest. He had to find him. If they identified him…

A thunder echoed in the swamp.

No, not a thunder.

Zuko’s quick shadow flashed over the huts and tents. He was flying away, but… No, not away.

He flew _towards_ the Lóng Company. He was going to meet them halfway.

Aang wouldn’t waste time. He was about to jump into the air, but a hand grasped his wrist.

“Aang!”

Katara held him to the ground.

“Katara, I have to go!” He insisted.

“I know” she said. “I’m coming with you”

Aang looked at her for a second. Then he nodded.

He didn’t fully leave his physical form. He simply flew over the swamp, passing straight through the trees and moving just slow enough for Katara to see him.

Katara was definitely _not_ slow. She slid across the water and dodged every obstacle like a true master.

Aang couldn’t see Zuko anymore.

His heart pounded with dread.

And there, they spotted them. A dozen soldiers with two Scorpion-Spiders and multiple weapons, ready to take down a dragon. Spears, crossbows, bows and arrows and nets ready to shoot into the sky.

Aang didn’t say anything. Katara acted on her own. She raised her arms and a spurt of water hit the nearest Scorpion-Spider from beneath, sending it flying above the mercenaries’ heads and crashing against a tree.

“Hey! You!” She called them. “Get out of here!”

Zuko roared, somewhere in the sky.

“Easy, there” one of the mercenaries said. He didn’t have any weapons. He must be a bender. His armor was different, more extravagant. He looked like the leader. “We’re not here to hurt you”

“Yes, you are!” Aang took a step forward. “Go away! Now!”

The man looked at Aang, and Aang couldn’t shake the feeling that he looked vaguely familiar.

“We only want the dragon” he explained. “We’ll take it away, and it won’t be your problem anymore”

“We’re not letting you hurt him” Katara threatened. “That dragon is under our protection”

“He’s harmless!” Aang insisted. “Trust me, he wouldn’t hurt anyone!”

The man seemed taken aback. He exchanged a look with his companions and broke into laughter.

“Oh, but you’re just a child” he cooed. “And an airbender, no less. It’s been quite a while since any airbender was last seen”

Aang didn’t let his glare falter. Katara took a step towards them.

“Leave him alone!” she ordered. “This swamp is _my_ house. I don’t remember giving you permission to hunt dragons in here”

“We’re here by order of the Earth King” he said to Aang, ignoring Katara. “I thought you would support us. You’re an airbender. We want to destroy the Fire Nation as much as you do”

“I don’t want to destroy the Fire Nation” Aang blurted out, horrified. “There are a lot of good people living there!”

The man forced a toothy smile.

“You don’t understand. These dragons are the Royal Family in the Fire Nation” he explained. “Dragon hunting isn’t a sport. We don’t kill them for fun. It’s a noble and honorable responsibility” he took a step towards Aang. “No wonder their country is the way it is. Their perception of honor is warped. It is ruled by monsters, and their citizens respond to the orders of mindless beasts”

“Hey! That’s not true!” Katara protested. Aang understood.

The Fire Lord and his family were not beasts. To imply they were would mean to release them from the responsibility, to put blame on their nature.

They were intelligent. Their cruelty was _deliberate_.

His people hadn’t been wiped out by _animals!_

“So you defend the dragons” the man sounded disappointed. “It’s a pity. I was hoping I could reason with you kids”

Aang spotted something from the corner of his eye. He pushed Katara aside just in time, and a narrow crossbow bolt fly right past her.

In that moment Zuko descended from the sky. A black snake, that breathed fire directly on the Scorpion-Spiders instead of attacking the soldiers. The earthbenders raised a wall of rock to protect themselves from the flames.

But Katara was standing on the perfect angle and a sharp whip of water knocked the earthbender down. Aang jumped into the air and charged against them. He blew all the bolts and arrows away. A rock shot up from the earth and Zuko jumped away from it. The flapping of his wings alone could start storms. One of the men charged a crossbow. Katara jumped forward. A ring of ice spikes formed around them, keeping the mercenaries away.

Because that’s what they were. Not noble monster hunters. They were mercenaries. They killed people for gold and glory.

Aang wondered just how many dragons— how many members of Zuko’s family— they had killed.

Katara stood between Zuko and the hunters, breathing heavily but always ready to fight. And Aang stood by her side.

But the Scorpion-Spiders weren’t fragile little devices. They were metal weapons capable of taking down dragons. They had been used to shoot down the Green Dragon, and countless other dragons before it, like the seven siblings of Fire Lord Azulon. And before that, to slay the mother of Fire Lord Sozin. They were designed to resist all the dragon fire in the world.

A bolt was fired. It was caught in a sudden swoop of ice. But then another one snapped forward. Zuko rose into the air. He was trying to get away (to divert the attention away from Aang and Katara). The wind swept across the ground and tossed the nearest Scorpion-Spider to the side, but an earthbender quickly put it back in place. He tried to block the bolts with _something_ , but they cut through the air and grazed against Zuko’s scales at a dangerous speed.

Water flooded the ground where the devices were resting. The wheels were forced back. They lost aim and the next bolt hit a tree. But that didn’t do much to stop them from _shooting_. Zuko kept releasing fire over the mercenaries, but they simply blocked it and tried to strike him again.

Zuko wasn’t making an effort to avoid the bolts. 

They came from his blind side. One of them hit his shoulder. Another pierced his tail. The dragon roared in pain and fear and tried to smash the giant crossbows, but a rope was thrown over his neck. Katara quickly cut it with a water whip.

But they had more ropes.

One was swung around his left front claw. He couldn’t fly away now. The other tangled on one of his horns. He tried to burn his attacker, but the fire was blocked by rock.

Blood poured like ink. It spilled over the water. Zuko shrieked. And slowly, his body shifted from the stress. His scaled and wings disappeared. The rope around his horn came loose.

But the ones around his body tightened, to hold down a small wounded teenage boy.

Aang’s heart stopped. He dashed towards the mercenary, but rock could block the wind as well.

The Scorpion-Spider was ready. It was aimed at him.

Aang tried to push it aside, but it wouldn’t bulge. The mercenary kept a strong grip on the device.

There was a sharp whistle.

He pressed the trigger.

But it wouldn’t fire.

The mercenary gasped. Something was stuck on the device.

It was a boomerang.

Vines wrapped around the Scorpion-Spiders. They twisted them until the metal snapped. Waves of water hit the mercenaries, forcing them to back away. Chief Sokka raced forwards with his club held high, followed by the warriors, standing in front of the people he was meant to protect and shouting at the soldiers of the Lóng Company to never come back. Mercenary invasions would not be tolerated by the Water Tribes.

“We will _not_ treat with you!” He stated. “Now leave my sister alone! Get out of this swamp!”

The members of the Lóng Company were outnumbered. They had lost their most powerful weapons. They glared at the warriors with hatred and resentment. The leader’s eyes found Aang’s

“You’re betraying your people, airbender!” He shouted. “Don’t forget that!”

Those words struck Aang to the core. He had to blink away the tears.

They lost the battle, but they refused to lose the war. They would come back one day and take that dragon for once and for all.

Aang felt very empty for the rest of the day.

**灵魂**

You’re betraying your people.

_You’re betraying your people._

A waterbender healed Zuko’s wounds inside the healing hut. Aang went to visit him. Zuko was more pissed off that he was forced to rest than he was scared of blood loss. At least he would stop scowling when he saw Aang (or when Katara scolded him for it). When no one was looking, Aang held his hand.

“Are you okay?” Zuko asked _him_. Aang blinked.

“I think I should be the one asking that” he smiled.

“I’m fine. This is nothing”

Aang would usually argue, but it was true that the wounds were healing fast. The waterbending healer— a tall, thin man who smelled like animal blood— was doing an excellent job. But that raised a question.

“Why doesn’t Katara heal people with her skin anymore?” He asked Sokka later that night.

“You know, you should ask _her_ about that” he said. Then he shook his head. “Actually, you know what? Don’t ask her that. Forget we had this conversation”

“Sokka?”

“What is it?”

“Thank you” Aang said. “For saving Zuko, I mean”

Sokka looked away, like he didn’t want Aang to see he had feelings.

“It was nothing”

Aang didn’t really need to ask anyone. He could figure out why Katara would be uncomfortable with people touching her skin, after Azula. She had never let him touch it back at the South Pole.

Katara was practicing waterbending with Korra near the village. She showed her simple forms and Korra followed her example. In the end, she had fulfilled her dream. She was a waterbending master now. And she was teaching the next generation of Southern waterbenders.

She smiled when she saw Aang, and Aang smiled back.

_You betrayed your people._

The healer released Zuko two days after the encounter with the Lóng Company. He was allowed to go back to his tent, where Aang welcomed him with hugs and kisses. Zuko didn’t flinch. He wasn’t even jumpy after being shot twice. Aang kissed him deeply and pulled at his hair until it became too much, and Zuko had to pull away. He blinked, and for a split of a moment, his eyes were bright golden, with two black slits for pupils.

_You’re betraying your people, airbender._

Something stopped. His throat constricted. His eyes filled with tears. His smile faded.

Zuko grimaced.

“What is it?”

No, no.

Aang forced a smile and kissed his lips. Zuko didn’t kiss back.

“It’s nothing” he said. He suddenly got an idea and stood up. “Hey, since you’re already healed, maybe we can go torchbug hunting! Oh, or we could go for a flight!”

“Aang…”

“Right. You’re tired. We could sleep under the stars! Well, you would sleep, but I would be there with you!”

Zuko had been hurt. There were people trying to hunt him down like an animal. The last thing he needed was more worries.

Actually, you know what? The last thing _Aang_ needed was more worries.

He held Zuko’s hand tightly and tried to pull him out of the tent, but Zuko stayed in place, pulling Aang with him.

“Aang, stop that”

Aang’s mouth snapped shut. He swallowed.

“Stop what?”

“Stop trying to have fun all the time!” Zuko snapped. “What’s wrong with you?

Aang’s heart sank.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re just…” Zuko collapsed on his sleeping mat. “It’s like you’re trying to be happy all the time!”

“That’s not true!” Aang argued. “I get sad, too. You know that”

Oh, Zuko knew. Of course he knew.

“I just…” Aang continued. “I don’t like to sulk here all the time”

 _Unlike you_ , he could have added. But he didn’t.

“Then why won’t you talk to me?” Zuko demanded. Aang frowned.

“Do you want me to be sad?”

“Yes! No! I want to know what’s wrong!” he exclaimed. “We’re supposed to trust each other, right?”

“Zuko, it’s not that I don’t trust you” Aang said. “I just… I don’t want to talk about it”

_You’re betraying your people._

What would they think if they knew he was in love with the Fire Lord’s son?

Was this betrayal?

Zuko’s grip on his hand became gentler. He pulled him down so they were at the same level.

“Look, whatever it is, we can try to fix it” he insisted. Aang looked at their hands.

“There’s no fixing this” he murmured. “They’re—” his voice cracked. He took in a deep breath. It was muscle memory. “They’re gone. The Air Nomads. I abandoned them” tears pricked his eyes. “And it’s all my fault”

He buried his face in Zuko’s shoulder. His arms wrapped around him and held him in place, as if he would crash in a million pieces without them.

“Aang” Zuko murmured. “It wasn’t your fault”

Aang shook his head.

“You don’t get it” he said with a string of voice. “It was”

Zuko’s hand found the back of his head, his neck. A gentle, comforting caress. It only made Aang feel worse.

The hand abandoned him.

“What do you mean?”

Aang squeezed his eyes shut. It was time. He needed to tell him.

He took in a shaky breath.

“Do you remember when you crashed against the iceberg?” Aang asked.

“Not really” Zuko confessed. “It’s all foggy”

“I was inside that iceberg” Aang continued. “Because I ran away”

He made a pause. Zuko was listening.

“I was the Avatar, Zuko” he finally said, with his eyes closed and his muscles tense.

Zuko immediately pulled away from him.

“What do you mean you were the Avatar!?”

“Shh!” Aang pressed a finger against his lips. “Not so loud!” he begged. “And… Yeah. When we found out, the monks wanted to send me to the Eastern Air Temple. I freaked out and ran away” he rubbed his eyes, wiping the tears away. “Then the Fire Nation ambushed the temples. And I wasn’t there to protect them. I abandoned them. I abandoned everyone! I’m the reason why Katara’s tribe is in danger now! I’m the reason why the _whole world_ is in danger! It’s all my fault!”

Zuko stared at him, with eyes wide and mouth agape as he tried to process what Aang was explaining to him.

“That can’t be” he said after a moment. “If you’re the Avatar, then how come…”

Korra had been born the day Aang was freed from the iceberg.

“Zuko…” Aang murmured. “I think I’m dead”

Zuko shook his head in horror.

“You’re a spirit?”

Aang nodded slowly.

“I think so” he confessed.

Zuko rubbed his face, still trying to wrap his head around it.

“It was me, wasn’t it?” He said. “I killed you when I crashed against that iceberg”

Aang’s stomach dropped. He had never realized.

“Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“I didn’t know how!” Aang snapped. “I didn’t want you to hate me!”

“Of course I don’t hate you!” Zuko yelled. “But you can’t hide this kind of stuff from me! We’ve been together for two years! When were you going to tell me you were…?” he huffed. “Forget it. I just want to know something”

Aang looked at him.

“What is it?”

“How could you run away from that?” He demanded. “You knew people needed you”

Aang breathed out. He knew this would happen. He knew Zuko would be disappointed.

“I got scared” he confessed. “I was only one kid”

And now everyone else had to pay the consequences. He didn’t have the right to be ‘only one kid’ anymore.

Zuko was glaring at him. Aang knew what he was thinking. That being a kid wasn’t an excuse. That he was a coward. That there were other kids, too, even younger than him, who suffered because of him.

Zuko should have been the Avatar. He would have done a much better job.

Now everything was on Korra’s little hands.

 _Congratulations_ , he thought. _You successfully ran away. You cheated with the universe. You’re not the Avatar anymore. Hope you’re happy now._

A hand tried to touch his shoulder, but it went right through it.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you” Zuko said after a moment. “I shouldn’t blow up like that”

“You’re right, though” Aang said. “I was a coward. I know. You don’t need to tell me”

Zuko didn’t say anything, which proved Aang’s point.

“I didn’t say you were a coward” he murmured after a moment.

“But you thought it”

“I think you made a mistake” Zuko continued. “I’ve made mistakes, too. I know what it feels like to be scared and want to run away from everything”

The Agni Kai.

“But you were in danger” Aang argued. “And you came back”

“So did you”

They were here for Korra, after all.

“It’s not the same” Aang insisted. “You didn’t hurt anyone”

Zuko fell silent.

“Well, what are you going to do about it?”

Aang looked at him.

“What?”

“You can’t change the past” Zuko said. “You can only try to make things better now. I can’t take back what my nation did, but I can stop them from doing it again”

Aang took a moment.

“You’re right” he finally said. His voice was weak and heavy. “I need to fight now. I’m not running away again”

Zuko held him through the night. He wrapped his arms around his waist and fell asleep like that, even though that meant keeping Aang trapped for hours. He didn’t mind. It was really comforting to know Zuko would still want to hold him even after he knew the truth.

**灵魂**

It wasn’t that Aang didn’t want the war to end, but… what could _he_ do? What power did he have? He had been born destined to put a stop to the war before it even began, but he signed his own sentence to powerlessness when he threw his destiny out the window and ran away. He used to have the ability to end the war, to protect the Nations… and to protect his people.

Now they were gone. And it was his fault. _Everything_ was his fault. But there was no going back, no fixing things, no making up for anything and not bringing the Air Nomads back.

No, Aang wasn’t the Avatar anymore. He gave it up out of weakness and cowardice. But the new Avatar was there now, in front of him, wrapped in a bundle of furs and just learning to talk properly. She created sparks with every gesture and shook the earth with ever stomp of her feet. At three years old, she was already loud and stubborn and determined, nothing like the Avatar that Aang had been. She would be the one to end the war, not Aang. She had taken Aang’s broken, rejected destiny with her tiny starfish hands, and patched it up, stitched it to her spirit and sealed it with fire into a destiny of her own. There was no fixing what the Fire Nation did to the Air Nomads, but Korra was born and raised for one reason, and as unfair and tragic as it was, the best (and only) gift Aang could give to her was to be there for her, guide her, train her, protect her and maybe hope that one day, she may forgive him.


	3. Wings In All Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay here it is! Final chapter! Also no I wrote the whole fic BEFORE i started posting it. I wouldn't be able to write 31k words in one sitting lmao.   
> I kinda forgot to mention that since Aang was fred from the iceberg three years earlier, he's three years older than he is in canon. Idk if I made it clear so I wanted to clarify it here.  
> :)

_“She turns to water, she goes slippin’ through the cracks  
And all that you gave her, you'll never win back  
You circled the sun, you wore your wings in all black  
See, I been down down down down down down down down  
But now I'm back_

_Those bright crooked stars, man they're howlin’ out  
Thought you read them all right, had them all figured out  
Learned every constellation, just to find where you're at  
Yeah, I been gone gone gone gone gone gone gone gone  
But now I'm back”_

–“[Wings in All Black](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tpLBuebt3w)”, by Gregory Alan Isakov.

**竜**

The attack happened during the day, because of course it did.

They were airships. The Fire Nation had airships. Hot air balloons red surged from the sky like blots of blood against the clouds. The people were panicked, but they moved in perfect silence and synchronization under Chief Sokka’s direction. The mothers hid their children inside tents which were later covered by a layer of vines and leaves, but the women did not hide: they took whatever weapons they could grab— spears, clubs, bow and arrow, daggers— and readied for the attack. The vines slowly crept over the village, covering it like a dome, until only thin slivers of light could pass through.

Zuko held his breath. If Azula was up there, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

“You! Firebender!” Chief Sokka called. “Do you know how to block fireballs?”

Zuko gave him a look.

“Of course I know how to block fireballs!”

“Are you good at it?”

That was a different conversation.

“Great” Chief Sokka slapped a hand against his forehead. “We’re…”

_We’re doomed_ , he wanted to say, but he couldn’t have his village hear him say that.

The wind blew, even inside the vines.

“Aang” Zuko whispered. “Go see if you can find Azula”

The wind disappeared.

A tense silence invaded the village. No one dared to say a word. Zuko clenched his fists, ready for the strikes.

Then a fireball collided against the vines. It burned its way through it, but the waterbenders quickly covered the hole.

Quick like sound another flash of light struck. Then another. The explosions evoked screaming and movement, and the vines couldn’t fix the damage in time. An unrelenting rain of fire pounded against the village. A house was struck. Water quickly washed over it, but the damage was done.

Katara jumped to the first line of defense, despite Sokka yelling at her. The next strike was met by a wall of water. It dissolved into steam.

Zuko followed suit. He met the fire halfway and dispersed it into nothing. His eyes never left the sky, ready to take whatever they threw at them. The airships bounced and quivered when the wind hit them. One of the soldiers fell off the balloon and hit the ground, but he couldn’t see if he was still breathing.

The trees caught fire. The water and the vines swept through the air at a vertiginous speed. A rain of arrows fell on the balloons, striking one of them and making it drop to the ground. Someone was hit by the fire. He screamed and threw himself into the water. A cat-gator surrounded the camp like a wounded soldier. Tents and huts were burned to the crisp. Soldiers fell, both from the sky and into the water.

There was no blue fire.

Zuko’s back touched something. It was Katara.

“Zuko!” She called. “Can you get me up there?”

“Katara?” A voice— Sokka— questioned. “What are you _thinking_?”

Zuko looked up at the balloons. They weren’t so high. If they could fight them up there…

He turned into a dragon. There was screaming and a boomerang hit his head, but before he could complain Katara hopped onto his back and they took to the air. Wings wide like the night covered the sky as they flew. A whip of water sharp like a blade cut straight through the nearest balloon. The basket dropped like a stone. The soldiers gave them fire, but his scales were fireproof and when he responded, with open jaws and fire of his own, the soldiers had nowhere to hide.

Aang was there, too. He could feel him. He met him with a high whistle against the ropes of the airships as the fire was snuffed out and the soldier had to rush to light it up again.

Arrows from below. The wind, the ice daggers that cut deep into the flesh. The scorching flames that brought back memories.

Zuko struggled to keep his heart calm, but all he could hear was the blood rushing through his ears every time he saw red light, every time he saw a woman in a balloon and, in dazed terror, mistook her for his sister.

Another airship fell. The swamp below was burning. Soldiers died— they died surrounded by either fire or water. Sometimes both. But in the end, the airships turned tail and left, fleeing a fight they couldn’t win. It was over, a voice inside himself told him. It was over. They had won.

They went back to the village. Only a few huts and tents remained, and one sixth of the tribesmen were gone. Katara slid to the ground to meet with her brother.

“Katara! You didn’t tell me he was a… a…” Chief Sokka gestured at Zuko.

“He just helped us win, didn’t he?” Katara argued.

The tribesmen gave him looks of distrust, and Zuko quickly abandoned his dragon skin. He guessed it was better not to look too threatening.

In that moment a red cloak was wrapped around him.

“Hey! He didn’t do anything wrong!” Aang said before Zuko had the chance to defend himself. “Just because he’s a dragon, it doesn’t mean…”

“Korra!” A new voice cried. All eyes immediately turned the woman removing the vines to release the kids. “Sh—she’s not here! She’s gone!”

Katara rushed to her side. Sokka pointed his boomerang at Zuko

“I knew it!” he exclaimed “This was all a distraction!”

Zuko smacked the boomerang away.

“How did I even distract anyone!?”

“Guys! Stop fighting!” Aang interrupted. “We can still find her!”

Katara kneeled by the crying woman. The children, still jumpy, looked for their parents.

“Did any of you see what happened?” Zuko asked the kids, but they were all too scared to reply and they ran away.

Zuko sighed.

There was a blackened patch in the cocoon of vines, a hole someone had punched through. The edges were still smoking.

He pushed the vines away to see a trail of burned leaves and rocks pushed from the earth in a desperate fit to make someone trip.

**竜**

Aang ran by his side, a sharp wind that pushed him forward. She was there. He could see her. She wore a black cloak, as if that could hide her. He could recognize her by the way she ran, barely touching the ground, as if the swamp was too disgusting for her to walk on.

Zuko punched fire in her direction. She dodged it without even looking. But then Aang rushed forward and pushed against her. He made her trip, and before she could get up he took form and snatched Korra from her arms.

Azula got up and aimed two fingers at him. Zuko opened his mouth to shout.

And then the seal jumped from the water. A grey creature that tried to bite her, but she dodged it without a scratch. She lost her balance, took two steps forward, and when she aimed lightning at the seal, she found herself ankle deep in the water.

Sokka stood in front of her, with a spear in his hand and his sealskin around him. Sharp daggers of blue fire against a simple spear made of wood and bone, but the wind kept snuffing out the flames, and she was losing her balance. Her movements were slow and clumsy in the water, yet Sokka knew how to move in it with grace and speed. Zuko took his chance to strike. She blocked his fire, but with each move she was pushed backwards, as she had to defend against both fire and spear while her own flue flame kept dying.

The water shook. It shot up and encased her in a wave of ice against a tree. Azula struggled, but Katara’s grip on the ice was vice-like. She appeared from among the trees, holding an unconscious Korra with one hand and bending the ice with the other.

Eventually, Azula raised her arms in surrender.

“I knew you were a traitor, _brother_ ” she told Zuko. “I expected to find you here, actually”

“It’s over, Azula”

She smirked. Her fire may not work, but her firebending did. The heat melted the ice and let her drop on the ground.

But she was surrounded. She couldn’t fight back against four people at the same time.

So she genuinely surrendered. She left. She walked away empty handed, leaving Korra safely nested in Katara’s arms without making another single attempt at taking her away.

Zuko immediately knew it wasn’t over yet.

**竜**

Korra was reunited with her mother. The woman— Senna, cried a river when she saw her. They fixed the tents and the huts at the best of their abilities, but much of the damage was irreparable.

Zuko talked about it with Sokka later, while Aang helped Katara comfort a scared Korra.

“Azula never gives up that easily” he said.

“You think she’s coming back” Sokka deduced.

“I know she is”

And in effect, not only two days later a legion of komodo rhinos raided the village. The children were hidden while the men and women fought. It was a whirlwind of ice and fire and vines. Azula wasn’t there, but Korra was caught again. She was put inside a metal box and once the firebenders were kicked out, it took hours of lockpicking to get her out. They mourned their dead and performed the funerary rites, making canoes out of leaves and bones and leather and letting them part down the river. All fallen firebenders were burned, but instead of tossing them on a burning pile, Zuko prepared small individual pyres for each of them. He wondered how many of them actually believed in what they were fighting for.

Did they die for something they cared about? Or were they simple sacrificed Pai-Sho tiles in the Fire Lord’s game? And how much did it matter?

They moved the camp several miles north and mounted traps to defend themselves. Aang helped Sokka with the ropes and spears while Zuko helped Katara with dinner. It was so late (or so early), that the sky was starting to adopt a lilac color again. They didn’t have time to search for firewood, so Zuko had to keep the fire going for almost two hours with only his hands.

“Thanks” Katara said after it was over. In a more serious tone, she added: “Do you think they’re coming back?”

“Honestly? Azula’s not giving up. It’s only a matter of time”

Korra was terrified of sleeping. At some point, while Zuko and Katara worked together on Senna and Korra’s tent, in the center of the camp, the little avatar approached her master and mumbled:

“I can’t sleep. I keep seeing her”

Katara smiled sadly and kneeled in front of her.

“We’re not letting her take you” she reassured her.

Little Korra sniffled.

“Is I because I’m not a good Avatar?”

“What? No! You’re a great Avatar” Katara said. “Right, Zuko?”

Zuko nodded.

“You’ll be one of the greatest Avatars someday” he said. “Azula won’t be match for you”

Korra looked at him with big, blue eyes. Like all the kids in the village, she was uneasy around the Big Black Dragon.

“She’s your sister?” She asked with a tiny voice.

Zuko swallowed.

“Yes” he replied. “She’s my sister”

“Why is she bad?”

If only he knew.

“I don’t know” he confessed. “I think it’s because our father is bad”

“Why aren’t you bad?”

“Because I chose not to” it felt like a shallow answer, but he didn’t think a three-years-old would understand.

Korra nodded thoughtfully.

“Did your dad burn your eye?”

Zuko sucked in a breath. A flash. The heat. The pain. It all came back for a second.

“Korra!” Katara scolded her, scandalized. “You shouldn’t ask those questions”

“Why not?”

“Because… because it’s _bad_ ” was her explanation. “Come on. I think it’s time for you to sleep” she gently nudged her back and guided inside the new tent. Zuko stood there, stupidly. He shook his head and went back to work on the tent, tying the ropes left loose and smoothing the thin cloth hanging on the horizontal pole.

He tried o breathe the way Uncle had shown him to keep his thoughts under control, but he kept _seeing_ it. The fist coming towards him, his father looking down at him like he was less than an animal, all the pent up hatred he held towards his son channeled into a single burn. How he flew away, half blind and full of terror. How he willingly returned, like a pig-lamb to the slaughterhouse.

He’d been thirteen. He would live with that scar for the rest of his life.

He wondered if the kids weren’t scared of him because he was a dragon— maybe they didn’t even make the connection— but because of his face.

Something touched him. He flinched, with his fists closed, when he saw Katara placing her hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry about that” she said.

Zuko exhaled.

“You didn’t do anything” he argued.

He held the posts while she tied them together with strips of leather. She passed him a wide blanket of pelts sown together and they arranged it on top of the cloth, forming an actually functional tent.

“I was thinking about the first time we met” she said with a tiny smile. “I thought you were going to freeze. I still don’t know how you didn’t before I found you”

“I’m a dragon”

“You would have frozen if it wasn’t for me! Such a powerful dragon” Katara teased. “You wouldn’t wake up until we put six blankets on top of you”

Zuko didn’t talk much about it, but he remembered those days fondly. Those weeks he spent in the ice with Aang and Katara so many years ago had been the first demonstration of security and care (which could be almost like love) he received ever since his mother left.

He would always be grateful for that. He owed this little tribe so much.

He owed Katara so much.

He watched her carefully smooth the wrinkles in the furs, and he couldn’t help but smile.

He the remembered something she had asked him years before.

“I can’t see anything” he answered.

Katara frowned.

“What?”

“From my left eye. You asked me about it back at the South Pole” he explained. The way she looked at him was making him feel embarrassed. “It’s blind. I can’t see”

She gave him a long look. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that? Not because she asked before it meant she wanted to know now.

“I’m glad you’re not like your sister” she mumbled after a pause. “I’m glad you came here”

Something in his chest ached.

“I had to protect the Avatar” he said.

“I know” Katara nodded. “But you also came here to for us. You always come back” She smiled. Slowly and hesitantly, she walked around the tent and wrapped her arms around him. Zuko accepted the hug despite his nervous heart. A warm, familiar yet strange feeling spread inside his chest. “Thank you”

“You saved my life” he muttered against her hair. “I should be thanking you”

When they parted, Katara looked away.

That night, inside their tent, he kissed Aang fervently, holding his face between his hands as if his lips against his could make him forget about Katara’s arms around his neck.

He loved Aang. He loved him more than he loved anyone else. He would kill and die for him. Everything about him— his laugh, his lightheartedness, his craving for adventure… all the light and happiness that he brought into his life… It made his heart jump. Whenever he held his hand and his heart skipped a beat, whenever he kissed him and held him and his touch alone made him feel like the most loved person on earth because it was _him_ that he was looking at with those eyes.

Aang never gave up on him. He stood by his side, not because he had to, but by choice. He chose to love him. It was a conscious decision. And Zuko chose loved him back.

He loved him.

Their lips moved in sync. He heard him gasp every time they parted, even though he didn’t even _need_ to breathe, and every time he searched for his lips again. Quick, desperate pecks that dissolved into deep, open mouthed kisses as Zuko held the back of his neck. He could feel Aang’s hands on his back.

They pulled away. Zuko took deep breaths as Aang brushed his hair away from his face. He wasn’t scared of his scar. He wanted to see all of him. Even his ruined, marred face.

His heart was full. It would explode, it would collapse on itself from all the love he had for him.

“I love you” he blurted out. Aang’s eyes were open wide, and for a moment of terror, his stomach dropped, and Zuko worried that he had misread something, that the Air Nomads simply didn’t see relationships that way, that Aang wasn’t ready and he was rushing him with a declaration of love.

But then Aang cupped his face and kissed him, slowly and caring.

“I love you too” he whispered.

And even though Zuko later wished that the first time he said it hadn’t been while he was trying to get someone else out of his head, that didn’t make his words any less true, and it didn’t make the moment any less loving. He loved him. He would always love him and nothing would ever change that.

**竜**

Aang almost always lay by Zuko’s side at night. He waited until he drifted off to leave, because he didn’t need to sleep himself. But he watched him as he closed his eyes, and stroked his hair, or brushed a thumb over a cheekbone, or cuddled up to him for warmth.

(Zuko Aang wouldn’t sleep or eat and he only breathed because of muscle memory. He knew he didn’t need it. When he ate, he did it only for pleasure. He couldn’t fall asleep even if he tried. He now understood why).

(Aang used to be the Avatar. And now he was a spirit. His boyfriend was a _spirit_ ).

He didn’t stay that night. There was a noise outside. Lights, movement, shouting. But it was night. They wouldn’t dare to attack while waterbenders were at their strongest, right?

Zuko rushed out of the tent and was met by the sight of fire, blood and bodies floating in the water. The masked soldiers, with their black steel armors, advanced in tandem, shooting fire and wrecking the new tents and huts. Ice and vines couldn’t cut through armor, and the tidal waves were dissipated into clouds of steam.

Katara and Sokka stood between the firebenders and their people. Ice and steel pierced the air as smoke raised from the burning grass. And at the center of the camp…

The Avatar.

Zuko raced through the battle, blocking the fire coming in his direction, until he reached the tent. He pushed the curtains aside to find a bone spear being aimed at him.

“You can’t stay here” he told Senna, trying to ignore the blade aiming at is heart. “It’s not safe”

“I’m not going anywhere with a firebender” she spat. “I knew you just wanted to take Korra away”

Senna crawled on the ground, away from the entrance. Little Korra, only three years old, hid her face in her mother’s neck. Her tiny body shook uncontrollably with terror in Senna’s arms.

“I’m taking you away from the battle” he insisted. “I promise I don’t want to hurt Korra”

“You’re a dragon” Senna insisted. “I know what that means”

That he was the prince. No commoner or peasant, not even minor nobles, were dragons. It was a gift given to the Royal Family.

Zuko wasn’t sure that was common knowledge everywhere.

“At least get out of this tent!” he insisted. “They’ll find you if you stay here” He kneeled to be at her level. “If I wanted to take her, I would have done it already. I’m just trying to fix things!”

He stood up and offered Senna a hand, but she rejected it. Instead, she stood up on her own, with a pear in one hand and holding her child with the other.

Zuko hated running away from a fight, but this wasn’t for him. He guided Senna away from the camp when the soldiers were too busy facing Katara by the water. He didn’t light their path, and kept looking back to check they weren’t being followed. The light of the camp became more and more distant with every step and leap between roots, branches, fallen trees and strings of water. There were dead cat-gators in the river.

They made their way deep into the swamp until the battle was just a faraway noise. The high, curved roots of the trees formed an opening, almost like a small cave, against the trunks. Zuko pulled leaves and vines and haphazardly tried to cover the empty spaces.

“Stay here” he said to Senna. “Run if you see anyone”

Senna was too scared to do anything but to follow his orders. Among the roots, the water reached to her waist.

“Are you staying here?” She asked.

Zuko opened his mouth to say yes. And then a roar broke the sky.

It was thunder. In the clouds above, white light flashed and illuminated the night for a split of a second. The thunder was like a shriek and the shriek was like thunder. Low and rumbling, rolled inside the bracing throat of a legendary creature.

Azula.

“I can’t” he replied. And then his skin gave way to scales and his wings spread, dark like ink being spilled in the sky. And he rose above the swamp.

The clouds were dark and cold and he could barely see, but every now and then, the white light revealed the point of a blue wing, a shadow of a tail. He flapped his wings and chased after these sightings, being met only by mist and darkness.

The screaming below, the lack of _wind_ — there _was_ wind, but it wasn’t _him_. He could feel it. It all made his heavy heart pound painfully with fear. He was alone this time. And Azula was somewhere there, surrounding him, playing with him, waiting to bite his tail or claw at his wings.

She was there, she was _there_. He just needed to…

He crashed against something and immediately tried to scratch it, but it wasn’t Azula.

It was a war balloon.

He hadn’t seen any war balloons. The tribe, they didn’t know— they weren’t expecting—

A crossbow was fired. A small Scorpion-Spider. Ropes wrapped around him. His heart jumped. He tried to breathe fire, but he didn’t manage to hit anything, and he realized the ropes weren’t ropes, but long metal chains. No fire could break them.

He struggled and bit and clawed and whipped his tail around hoping to hit _something_ , but like the rest of his body, it was tied and bent into a painful angle. Roars and thunder, red fire and metal chains. His legs were bound. His wings were bound. If the chains snapped, he would fall. His skull and spine would be crushed by the impact. A string of war balloons held him suspended uselessly in the air while the battle was waged below.

A weight suddenly hit him. All the air was forced out of his lungs.

_“What do we have here?”_ Azula’s mocking voice was projected in his mind. _“But if it isn’t my traitor brother. How’s in hanging, Zu-Zu?”_

Zuko never wished he could talk as a dragon as much as he did now. To curse her. To talk back and order her to _leave him alone_.

He couldn’t do that. Instead, he roared.

A low, rumbling round came from Azula’s throat. She was laughing at him.

_“Look at you, Zu-Zu. You’re_ such _an animal that you can’t even speak”_

Her golden eyes stared into his.

_“I would love to stay and have tea with you, but I’m afraid I have more pressing matters at hand”_ Azula said. _“Try not to be too melodramatic while I’m gone”_

He breathed fire, more in a fit of frustration than as an attack, because it didn’t harm Azula in the slightest. It hit her face like a pleasant summer breeze would. Not a hair of her mane was left smoking.

Of course she wouldn’t burn. Of course her face would never be burned. She was too _perfect_ for that.

_“Zuko, you’re pathetic”_ Azula deadpanned. _“You’re ruining the Black Dragon’s image”_

_No, I’m not_ Zuko wanted to argue. He was better. He was different from them.

He tried to bite her, but she flapped her wings and dodged his fangs.

She jumped off and flew down towards the village. She wasn’t going to waste time with him.

He wasn’t her goal. She just wanted to lure him away, get him out of the way.

His heart gave a leap. He cranked his long neck to look at the swamp below. Clouds of fire, screams…

_The Avatar._

Zuko roared. He curved his back and tried to reach the chains. If he could bite through them…

No. They were steel. The impact of his closed jaws shook his skull like electricity. He looked at the war balloons. The baskets were made of metal, like the chains. The balloon itself was made of fabric. He breathed fire on the nearest airship, but the fabric didn’t burn. It was covered in fireproof oils and ointments. His wings were all tied up, but if he struggled, he could move his claws a bit.

He was hanging on the air. The airships struggled to lift his weight.

He stated to swing, from side to side. The balloons bounced with the movement. The soldiers screamed and grunted and tried to stabilize the balloons, but Zuko’s tail broke free in the movement. It whipped at the nearest balloon. A gash opened on the side. Hot air started to leak and the airship quickly lost altitude. Soon, it was hanging _from_ Zuko. If he cranked his neck, he could see the soldiers, unprotected by the metal basket and with their eyes full of terror.

He roared. He could set them on fire if he wanted to. The soldiers rushed to cut the chain that bound them together, and with the little hot air they had left, they let the airship descend into the swamp. One balloon less meant more weight for the remaining ones to hold. Zuko had an idea.

He swung from side to side, like a pendulum. The soldiers screamed and firebent at him, but he couldn’t be burned by fire now. He reached such heights that, in a quick movement, his claws dragged against the nearest balloon.

A sudden sting pierced his wing. One of the soldiers on the other balloon was aiming at him with his small Scorpion-Spider. The dragon’s tail snapped forward and knocked him off the balloon. The airship he was holding onto eventually gave in. It was dropping quickly. One of the soldiers was yelling at another.

From that angle, Zuko could spot Azula hovering over the swamp, flying in circles and looking for her objective.

Someone rushed forward and, with the swing of an axe, snapped the chain in two.

It was the one that kept his wings bound. It unwrapped from around him, and fell from his body like a heavy dead serpent.

A beat of silence. His wings spread. The rest of the chains gave in to the pressure.

His wings stretched and a cushion of air lifted him, let him soar towards the ground despite the burning on his left wing. Azula looked up just in time before he crashed against her, all claws and teeth.

He tried to bite her wing. He missed, of course, because he always did, and Azula bit back in retaliation. Her fangs dug into his side, dragging along his left wing and making his blood pour down into the battlefield like a dark, hot rain.

He roared. The pain was unbearable. It shot up his wing, through his spine and into his skull, hot splintered blades shredding his body. He could think on only one thing that hurt more.

Zuko held onto her and stopped flapping his wings. His weight was dragging her down, and by the time she broke free, a wave of titanic dimensions rose above the water and washed over her, trapping her on ice.

The firebenders ran away. The war balloons ran away. Azula watched them from her ice prison, probably cursing her cowardly peasant soldiers. But she was alone, and Zuko, wounded and scared, was ready to have an honorable fight. He wasn’t like her, and he couldn’t wait to show her.

But Azula surrendered once again. She flew away, not in fear but in anger and frustration, that such an insignificant mind as her brother’s had beaten her. That she once again failed. That her soldiers abandoned her when things got to difficult, as if that was an option for her as well.

The first thing that met Zuko once he touched the ground were Aang’s arms around his shoulder. He hid his face in the dragon’s mane.

“I’m sorry” he mumbled. “I couldn’t see you, and when I did—”

Zuko wanted to tell him it was okay, that he was okay, that he did the right thing by staying with them and fight but neither his mind nor his throat could make an understandable sound. He returned Aang’s glance and hoped he could convey his feelings in his eyes or his expression.

There were many losses that day. A lot of bodies lay on the ground or floated in the water, an all healing attempts proved futile. The tall waterbending healer was dead. Many firebenders had fallen, too.

Then he remembered something. He didn’t waste time shifting back into human form and finding clothes. He just opened his wings and flew among the trees despite the pain. Aang followed closely. He asked what was going on, but Zuko had the feeling he already knew, because Katara and Sokka were following, too. His fear was clear as water.

A huge, scary black dragon stood above the little Avatar. She was alone, curled up into a ball beneath the roots and vines. When she saw him, she started crying and frantically bending the water at him to keep him away. Katara rushed forward to hold her in her arms.

She was okay. She hadn’t been taken.

Zuko sighed.

But down the river, several feet away, there was a shadow floating in the water. As he approached it, he saw the shadow was dressed in Water Tribe blue. A broken spear floated by her side.

They gave Senna a proper funeral while Korra slept. There had been a big discussion between Sokka and Katara before the ceremony. They couldn’t decide on whether Korra should be there for the funeral, on who should tell her that her mother was dead, on what to even do next. Azula wasn’t going to stop. Way too many people were dying protecting the young Avatar. And deep down, Zuko overheard, they knew. They knew Azula was going to get her. They were only pushing back the inevitable.

Zuko had told Senna he was going to keep her and her daughter safe, and he failed. Because Azula distracted him. Because he fell for her tricks. Because if only he’d stayed like Senna asked, she may still be alive.

Making funerary pyres for the Fire Nation soldiers was painful, and not because of the bleeding gash on his back from Azula’s bite.

The stranger who let her die attended to her funeral, but her daughter didn’t. She slept safe and sound in her tent, while Katara and Sokka tried to decide who should give her the news. They had both lost their mother. It must be… really hard for them.

In the end, Aang volunteered, and no one dared to refuse. He entered the Avatar’s tent and talked to her in such a low voice that no one could hear from outside. But Korra’s cries and screams pierced their ears mercilessly. She called for her mommy and called Aang a liar and called the dragons evil, evil for taking her mom away from her.

At some point, Sokka and Katara started crying, too, even if they both would wipe their tears away and hide it. And Zuko himself couldn’t help but think of his own mother, who left him one day to keep him safe.

Azula had always been so angry at their mother. Was this what brought her happiness? To take someone else’s mother from them?

There was a meeting that day, if it could be called one. The two chiefs, with their two small tribes, gathered around the campfire because there were no tents or huts left. Chief Sokka sat opposite to Chief Huu, the child cross-legged and with a straight back to seem taller, while the master sat relaxed with a bowl of food on his lap.

“We gave your people food and safety” Chief Huu told Chief Sokka. “And I don’t mean to say this is your fault. But the Avatar is one of you, and we weren’t involved in the war until she came here”

Chief Sokka nodded slowly.

“We understand. Believe me, we’ve lost… we’ve lost a lot of people too” he said. “And… I want to apologize, for all the harm we’ve brought to your tribe. I know it’s not enough, and I know it doesn’t fix the damage, but that’s all I can offer you right now”

“That’s not exactly true” Katara supplied. She was sitting right next to her brother. The Chief and the Master. The two warriors leading their people together. Katara took in a deep breath. “Sokka and I have a plan”

Sokka cleared his throat. For a moment, the two entire tribes held their breaths in anticipation.

“The Avatar can’t remain here” he said. “The whole reason why we left the South Pole was to avoid the Fire Nation. Now they’ve found us. And the Foggy Swamp tribe is suffering the consequences” he looked at Chief Huu. “I know this isn’t fair on you guys. This isn’t fair on anyone. And even if the Southern Tribe keeps moving, they will only keep following us until we end up like…” he caught himself at last moment. Aang was listening, too. It was a nice gesture from Sokka, to be sensitive. “Until we’re disappear. For real this time. Now that they know the Avatar is one of us, they must have withdrawn their forces from the North Pole and they will put all the focus on finding the Avatar” he made a pause. “That’s why we’ve come to the conclusion that the Avatar must be sent away”

A wave of murmurs and protests rose. Zuko scowled. The Avatar was only three years old. How could they abandon her?

Katara got up to her feet.

“Korra still needs someone looking after her and train her in waterbending. Obviously” she said. Her eyes met Zuko’s “…That’s why I’m leaving the swamp, to take care of her. And I’m going to ask—”

“We’re going too!” Aang announced suddenly, standing up. “You said I could be her airbending teacher. And we came here to help protect her. We’re going too”

“We are” Zuko agreed without even thinking. “We’ll do everything we can”

No one was exactly happy with the conclusion of the reunion, but everyone agreed that it was the best course of action.

And so they packed their bags immediately after the meeting was over. They didn’t know when Azula would strike next. The next attack could be within hours. Aang stored everything they may need in the Spirit World (everything made _so much sense_ now), and Katara packed her things into a big leather knapsack.

“You guys _do_ know this is all part of her plan, right?” Three pairs of eyes turned to Sokka. He was standing by his and Katara’s new tent. “You know, divide and conquer? She wants to single you out so she can take you out more easily”

“Then why are we even doing this?” Aang questioned.

“What other choice do we have?” Katara asked back. “It’s either this or the whole tribe pays the price.

Zuko’s hope was being drained out of him, like blood being squeezed out of a wound. He knew. Of course he knew this is what Azula intended. And even if she didn’t, they were still making her job easier.

Sokka gestured at them to enter the tent. The four of them sat a circle. Sokka picked up a map and spread it on the ground.

“I’ve been thinking about your options” he said. “Wherever you go, if the Fire Nation finds you, the people there will pay the consequences.

“So we stay away from people” Aang suggested.

“Or we go to places that can defend themselves” Katara supplied. After a moment, she added: “What about Ba Sing Se? Not even the Red Dragon could break in, and we could find an earthbending teacher for Korra”

Zuko remembered a certain play about dragons and swallowed.

“Azula is not like my uncle” he said, and Katara’s eyes widened for a moment, as if she just now made the connection that the Red Dragon was part of his family. “If we do that, we’re putting the whole city in danger”

“You think Azula could get into Ba Sing Se?” Aang asked.

“I don’t know” Zuko confessed. “I don’t want to find out”

“Yeah, I’m with Zuko on this one” Sokka said. “Besides, the Fire Nation has been trying to take Ba Sing Se for over a hundred years. That’s the place where all the problems are happening”

“We could always go to an Air Temple” Aang suggested.

“Azula must be expecting to find us there” Zuko argued. “She always does”

“Well, what do you suggest then?” Katara demanded. She was growing impatient. “The Fire Nation?”

Sokka scratched his chin.

“Now that you mention it…”

“We’re not taking the Avatar to the Fire Nation, Sokka” Katara cut him off.

“We have to think like her” Zuko said, observing the map. “Where would _she_ think _we_ would go?”

“You just said it yourself” Katara pointed out. “To the Air Temples”

“Not just there” Zuko argued. “She would… probably expect us to go somewhere where we can keep her safe”

“That’s pretty much everywhere” Aang said.

“That pretty much _nowhere_ ” Katara retorted.

Aang’s eyes widened. Before he could say something, Sokka exclaimed:

“Oh! I got it!”

“Me too!”

Zuko already knew what they had in mind before they said it, and he already hated it.

“Azula must think you guys have a destination” Sokka said, pointing at the map. “So, once she figures out where you’re going, she will try to meet you there”

Katara stared at her brother.

“…So?”

“So that’s what we need to do!” Aang smiled. “Have no destination!”

Zuko and Katara exchanged a look. Aang’s smile dropped.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“That’s the plan? Run away until she’s old enough to fight the Fire Lord?” Zuko demanded.

“Why do you say it like it’s a bad plan?”

“I don’t know about it, Aang” Katara said, crossing her arms. “I still think we should go to Ba Sing Se. It’s out best chance”

“Well, it’s a long way to Ba Sing Se” Aang said. “As long as we take enough detours to confuse her, I don’t see why we can’t do both”

“Because—!” Zuko slapped a hand on his forehead. “Azula would take the whole city if it means getting Korra. She won’t be as careful as my uncle”

Aang and Katara shared a look, and Zuko knew they had already made up their mind without him.

“We can see on the way” Katara said.

“Guys” Sokka put a hand on Katara’s shoulders. “You do know what this means, right?”

The look on his eyes made Zuko realize just how _real_ everything was.

“If this is the plan, then you will have to live on the road for at least ten years or so” Sokka explained. “Until Korra is ready”

Katara nodded decisively.

“I know” she said. “I’m ready”

“Me too” Aang added. “I’m an Air _Nomad_. I know what it’s like to live traveling. I’m not worried about it”

“Everything will be different after tonight” Zuko said. “We can’t go back from this”

They fell in silence for a moment, sharing nervous looks and glancing at the map. Their life would change. Forever. They would live together, constantly on the run and always scared, with the perpetual responsibility of protecting, raising and training the next Avatar.

They were going to raise a child together.

Zuko wasn’t ready to be a father! He didn’t even like fathers. Does adopting a child inherently make you a father? He was only sixteen years old!

No, no it didn’t make him a father, because Korra didn’t even like him. She wasn’t going to adopt _him_ back. If she ever grew to see one of them as her father, that would surely be Aang, right?

Zuko suddenly didn’t want to protect the Avatar anymore.

No, no. He had to. He was freaking out over the most stupid part of their plan. It was time to get serious.

This was the greatest responsibility. The future of the world was in their hands.

He accepted the responsibility, and this new life they would live, and his two new travel companions and this incredible, legendary quest they were given.

They could do it.

**竜**

They allowed themselves six hours of sleep before parting, interrupted only by Korra’s crying and protests.

“I don’t want to go!” the toddler insisted. “I want to stay! I want my mom”

Katara kneeled in front of her and held her in her arms.

“Korra, listen to me” she said. “We _need_ to do this. The boys and I will keep you safe. I promise” she forced a smile for her. “Do you trust me?”

Korra nodded hesitantly.

They said their goodbyes in the morning. Sokka and Katara shared a long hug. He shook Aang’s hand and gave Zuko an awkward pat on the shoulder. Little Korra, still holding Katara’s hand, reached out with her little arms to give Chief Sokka a hug.

And so, they started their new life as small traveling family.

They walked for hours. When Zuko asked why walk when they could easily fly away, Katara replied:

“Let’s wait until sunset for that” she gave him a look. “Besides, I need to pick something up”

What she needed to pick was buried under the riverbed at the side of a tree. She parted the waters and dug with her hands on the mud until she hit something.

It was a metal box. She washed her hands on the water, opened the box with a key and held what was inside in her arms. She quickly stored it at the bottom of her knapsack.

“What was it?” Aang asked.

Katara gave him a smile.

“It was nothing, Aang” she replied. She reached out her hand for Korra to take.

They didn’t get to leave the swamp before nightfall. Everyone (except for Aang) was tired, and Korra didn’t finish the trip awake. Katara had to hold her sleeping body until exhaustion forced her to stop. When Zuko offered to carry her instead, Katara refused.

She thought he was useless. He wasn’t useless! He could take care of a kid, if he tried. Mai had a little brother, right? How different could it be?

Of course, when Katara left Korra on the ground and Zuko tried to talk to her, she cried and hid her face. Don’t let the Evil Black Dragon touch her.

Apparently smiling and putting on his most friendly face didn’t work either. She ran towards Aang and whispered something on his ear.

“Zuko’s not scary!” Aang laughed. “He’s my boyfriend”

It was dumb that words so casually delivered made his heart jump.

Korra still preferred Aang over him, and after he finished putting up the tent, he was the one to convince her to sleep, despite her protests and insistences between yawns that she wasn’t tired.

Zuko effortlessly started a fire and cooked some fish with Katara. Aang avoided looking at the food.

Katara had bags under her eyes, and she stared wordlessly at the fire until Zuko was the only one doing the cooking. It didn’t bother him. She looked more tired than him.

“Maybe we should fly tomorrow” he suggested. Katara shook her head.

“Not during the day. You’re way too visible”

Of course. Azula’s blue scales helped her blend in with the blue skies, but Zuko didn’t have that luxury.

“Let me carry her, then” he insisted. “You’re exhausted”

“Well…” she nervously clasped her hands together. “She’s… I don’t mean to say that she’s scared of you, but…”

“But she’s scared of me”

Katara sighed.

“Yeah” she accepted. “I don’t know why. You’ve always been nice to her”

He could think of several reasons why. Because of his disfigured face, because she saw him as a dragon, because her mom was scared of him, because he was Fire Nation. She had many reasons to fear him.

“I never wanted anyone to fear me” he said. “Ever since I left the Fire Nation, I’ve tried not to be like Azula and my father” he looked at Katara. “I don’t want other people to feel the way I do when I’m around them”

Katara hesitantly reached out and squeezed his hand. Zuko wanted to squeeze back, but a pang of shame made him pull away. He couldn’t do this to Aang. He had resolved that a long, long time ago. He was more important.

Katara looked away with a faint blush on her skin.

“Well…” she said. “I will talk to Korra. I’ll try to convince her you’re not so scary”

“Not _so_ scary?”

“It’s okay to be scary to the right people” Katara smirked.

Zuko was secretly glad that Katara wasn’t scared of him being a dragon. She had been held captive and tortured by Azula for weeks. No one would blame her for being uneasy around the whole dragon issue.

But she was never scared of him. She looked at him in the eye no differently than the way she looked at Aang: with trust and determination.

He wished he had squeezed her hand.

There was only one tent, big enough for three adults. None of them were adults, and Aang wasn’t sleeping anyways, so there was no need to cram themselves inside. They decided to sleep as much as possible, so they could fly the next night and rest during the day. Aang kept guard, because of course he did, and meanwhile, Katara held the little Avatar to her chest and immediately passed out. Zuko was glad that she could get some sleep.

And even though he would be the one putting the most effort the next day, he couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes. He stared at Katara, despite wanting to look away. She slept in her warrior clothes, because she was always ready to fight, and she clutched the child to her chest as if her life depended on it. Her hair spilled over the pillow and partially covered her face. Her brows here slightly furrowed from the tension, and Zuko wanted to brush a thumb over them, to tell her to relax. That she was safe and that they would be okay.

He shifted so he was facing the wall of the tent and he couldn’t see her anymore.

The first thing Katara did when she woke up, well into the afternoon, was to check her knapsack and make sure everything was still there.

Feeling the most rested that he had in years, Zuko walked out of the tent, greeted Aang with a kiss and quickly packed everything to continue their journey.

Before parting, they ate the leftover fish and Katara pulled the water and the vines to wash over their camp, so it looked untouched.

They walked for hours. The swamp was slowly giving way to a forest. The waters were confined to a thin river and the warm light that passed through the leaves was enough to see with clarity.

They stopped to eat something at sunset and as soon as the sky was dark enough, Zuko shed his clothes and turned into a dragon. Of course, Korra screamed and bent useless pebbles at him.

He was trying really hard not to growl.

“Korra! It’s just Zuko!” Aang held her hand and tried to convince her to approach him. Zuko was growing more and more uncomfortable with every second.

Katara saw something. For a second Zuko thought there was someone behind him, but when she approached him, he realized what it was.

“What happened here?” She asked, gesturing at his left wing.

Aang walked closer to see better. The wound Azula left hadn’t fully healed, even if it had stopped bleeding. It still hurt. But that didn’t matter.

He moved his wing away from Katara’s touch.

“Wait! Zuko! You can’t fly like that”

_Yes I can!_ He wanted to tell her. _Stop treating me like I’m useless!_

Katara rushed to pick something from inside her knapsack. A thread and needle.

“Stay still” she commanded. Zuko, of course, didn’t stay still. He shifted and growled because _he was fine!_ He didn’t need any help! He could still fly. He wasn’t a baby.

With all the movement and the yelling from Katara’s side, he ended up with several needle stabs. Aang tried to stop them both, but neither listened. Korra was crying.

“Zuko! I’m serious!” Katara insisted. “What if you drop us? Stop being so _proud_. This isn’t about you”

Zuko gritted his teeth. He knew it wasn’t about him, and deep down, he knew Katara was right. He ended up letting her stitch him up. She kept the area around the gash frozen and numb, so he barely felt anything. It took around an hour that they could have spent flying, but once it was over, the thin black membrane with no scales of his wing was neatly sealed with a blue string. It still hurt a bit to move it.

“There” Katara said. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Zuko glared at her.

“And don’t you dare to growl at me”

Zuko didn’t growl.

She crossed her arms.

“If you shift now, will all my work come loose?” She asked. “I mean, do you even have the wound without wings?”

Zuko wished he could explain to her how it worked, but without a voice, he was left with the only option to nod.

“Oh! Don’t worry!” Aang exclaimed. “Dragons heal faster”

Katara turned to him.

“Is that true?”

Of course it was true! Hadn’t she heard Aang?

Zuko nodded.

“Then… stay like that for a day or two” Katara suggested. “Then we’ll fly all you want”

Zuko growled. Katara crossed her arms.

“What did I say about that?”

Zuko stopped growling. But he did so reluctantly.

They were left with walking. And since his fire breathing wasn’t as controlled as his firebending, they walked mostly in the dark. Which didn’t seem to be a problem for anyone but Zuko, of course. They spotted a military camp in the prairie, not far from them, but managed to skip past it without being seen despite traveling with a giant dragon. There were torchbugs in the field, and Katara encased a few on them on an ice bubble for Korra to hold as a lantern. The little Avatar was blown away by the shining insects.

Aang and Katara chatted cheerfully, about the Southern Water Tribe, about flying, about embarrassing anecdotes regarding Zuko (Zuko really wanted to growl) and answered the countless questions little Korra shot at them. Why were there torchbugs in the sky? Why didn’t Aang sleep? Why did they leave the swamp? Why were torchbugs called torchbugs? When would they sleep? Were there torchbugs in Ba Sing Se?

They set up camp at sunrise. Katara ordered Zuko to stay a dragon with the same tone she used to tell him not to growl, so Zuko had no choice but to stay a dragon. With no tent. Because he the tent was too small for him. At least it wasn’t cold that day.

And of course, Aang didn’t waste the opportunity to throw himself on top of him and cuddle up against his mane.

“I missed this” he mumbled.

Zuko wouldn’t admit it, but he missed it too. The warmth and pressure of his body was nice, even though he knew it could disappear at any moment if Aang got distracted.

Katara went to sleep inside the tent with Korra. Zuko closed his eyes, thought about how much he didn’t want to go to Ba Sing Se, where his cousin’s pelt was hung as a war trophy, and quietly drifted off.

And soon later, a new weight pressed against his mane.

“You were right” Katara’s voice murmured. She stroked the long black hair with one hand. “It’s very soft”

Zuko opened one eye. She was resting her head on Aang’s shoulder. The last thing he saw before falling asleep again was Aang looking at her with fond eyes.

A bit before the sun set, they opened their eyes, packed everything up and continued. When Korra grew tired, Katara tried to coax her into sitting on Zuko’s back, but she wouldn’t touch a dragon, so Aang resolved to carry her on his shoulders. Katara was worried that he got distracted and dropped her on accident, but that never happened.

As they walked through the prairie, Zuko decided to try flying again, but while the pain was exhausting, Aang and Katara’s yelling and scolding was even more so, so he resolved to walk by their side again. There was a full moon, so Katara took the chance to teach Korra a few waterbending moves. The little Avatar had an exceptional gift for bending, being able to even earthbend and firebend without mastering waterbending first. If Azula got to her, everything would be over.

They saw a military camp near sunrise. They tried to surround it, but it was thin and long and it went on forever. The grey light was spilling over the prairie. A black dragon became more and more visible with time. They were tired and their muscles were sore from walking, so they ended up taking refuge in the first village they saw. Aang gave Zuko his Earth Kingdom clothes and, to Katara’s frustration and Korra’s horror, he shifted back into human form. They didn’t have the time to check if the stitches stayed in place.

There was a tavern that stayed open all night, so they paid for a room with two beds. Only once the door was closed behind them, Katara told Zuko to take off his shirt to see the wound.

It had healed noticeably, but there was still a long, shallow scratch on his back. It hurt, but it wasn’t bleeding. Katara said it didn’t look dangerous, and that some ointment would do. But he needed to stay in human form until it healed.

“You can’t keep shifting all the time” she chided him as she gently smeared the ointment on his back.

The sky was a dark lilac, with the last stars fading slowly. They were on a second floor, so Aang stood on the railing of the balcony and watched the village below.

“There are so many people!” He exclaimed.

“We should leave soon” Zuko said.

“Not before you’re healed” Katara countered. At this point, she was helping him out of spite. “Besides, I don’t think anyone’s seen us”

“Why don’t you just use your sealskin?” He asked. “So we can be done with this”

Katara stopped. She took a step back.

“I don’t have it” she said.

The conversation died there. She put Korra to sleep. Aang watched silently from the window.

“Are you okay? Does it hurt?” He asked.

“I’m fine” Zuko replied. Aang stared at him. “What?”

“You always say you’re fine. Even when you’re not”

“You do the same” Zuko argued.

Aang looked at him like he wanted to cry. He climbed down from the railing and slowly wrapped his arms around him.

“Are you scared?” He asked.

Zuko sighed.

“Yes”

They pulled away. His eyelids were heavy. He just wanted to go to sleep, but a lingering anxiety wouldn’t let his heart rest. He was sure that, at any moment, he would spot a blue dragon in the distance.

Katara joined them after a moment.

“She’s asleep” she said.

The three of them looked out the window, together.

“We can take her” Katara stated. “We’ve fought her before. It’s going to be okay”

Her voice was strong, but a tiny quiver gave away her nervousness.

Of course, she’d been caught by her before. Zuko looked at her.

“Are _you_ scared?”

Katara sucked in a deep breath. She gripped the strap of her knapsack tightly.

“We’ll be okay” she said. “We just have to… make sure she doesn’t find us”

Her hand unconsciously touched her neck. She used to have a necklace, right?

So, she was scared. Zuko saw how she took off her knapsack and hugged it to her chest, like a baby.

“When she captured me, she took my skin, and she gave me something that took my bending away. I was scared I would never have it back”

“Must have been chi blockers” Zuko said. Katara shook her head.

“I meant my skin” she corrected. “Without it, I can’t shift, or go anywhere. And she…” her throat constricted. “Whenever she gave me an order, I had to follow it. I _wanted_ to follow it. Even if I was something I would never do. I just felt this… urge, to do whatever told me to. It made me _happy_ to obey her” she shuddered. “…I was scared I would have _me_ back”

She rubbed her eyes, but not because she was tired. Zuko couldn’t… he couldn’t imagine what it must be like. The sole idea of Azula having such power over him terrified him.

The idea of _Katara_ ever falling back into Azula’s claws terrified him.

“I’m sorry” he mumbled after a moment. “It must have been horrible”

Katara nodded.

“It was” she said.

“We won’t let it happen again” Aang said, looking more serious than he ever had. “Right, Zuko?”

Zuko nodded decisively.

“She’s not touching your skin again” he promised. Because he knew she had it. It was buried deep in the bottom of her knapsack, the knapsack she held in her arms and against her heart, because she was terrified of it being taken from her again. She was so scared, he realized, that she would rather stitch a wound than to let someone else see the skin.

He couldn’t blame her. How could he?

Katara looked at both of them, and her eyes were full of an emotion that Zuko couldn’t quite decipher but he knew that he was feeling the exact same thing for her in that moment.

She hugged them. She fit naturally in their arms, like she was always meant to be there. Zuko squeezed her body closer to his, and he felt Aang’s hand resting on her waist. He interlocked their fingers together. He held _him_ as tightly as he held _her_.

His heart was full of warmth and of something else, a familiar emotion that he didn’t dare to name. He knew he wanted to protect them, to hold them, to keep his family far away from them. He chose _them_ , instead. Aang… and Katara. He chose them.

When they pulled away, he wanted to kiss her until he couldn’t breathe. He wanted to kiss her as much as he wanted to kiss Aang.

They watched the sunrise together. Aang took his hand, and all doubts disappeared. Whatever that he felt for Katara would never, _could never_ , destroy the love he had for Aang. These two emotions weren’t enemies destined to cancel each other out, but forces that could and _should_ coexist.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

They were exhausted, so they got ready to sleep. Aang went for a flight, to check the military camp, while Zuko and Katara rested. He took off his shirt to sleep, but the gash burned every time he moved or breathed or when he laid on his back.

At one point, a gentle hand touched his shoulder.

“Turn around” she murmured. He did, pressing his chest against the mattress. He would have done anything, anything for her.

A warm, heavy blanket was spread over his back. He couldn’t see it, or touch it though the cotton sheets, but a soft glow illuminated the hotel room. The pain disappeared. A hand brushed his hair.

“It’s so soft…” she whispered.

He held her hand, for only a second.

He slept soundly that day.

**竜**

The description was short and vague: female, a bender, extremely dangerous, and had a glaring weak spot that could (and should) be exploited. The rest could be inferred by the context.

She had to be captured alive. Otherwise she wouldn’t be paid.

If she could get some information regarding the dragon as well, she may get paid double.

And they happened to be in the same village at the time. She would get to kill two birds with one stone.

**竜**

And the next day Zuko wondered what the heck he’d been thinking.

He couldn’t be with two people! That wasn’t something you could _do_. You had to choose one person to spend your life with. Or live alone. Whatever.

Two people? That was just greedy.

(He might have had a dumb tiny crush on her back when they first met, but that was in the past!)

This is why you don’t make decisions when you’re sleep deprived! You’re not thinking! Azula would make fun of him for being so stupid.

He tried to avoid Katara later that day. He woke up near nightfall and he took the chance to go to the marked before she got up. He bought some food, clothes, a new waterskin (he looked for the prettiest one) and even a pair of beautiful dao swords. Those would come in handy.

He didn’t see Aang, but he didn’t worry much. It wasn’t as if they could hurt him or capture him. He’d be okay.

In fact, by the time he came back to the hotel, he saw Aang and Katara sitting on a mat in the modest foyer with Korra between them, chatting and laughing and showing Korra some bending tricks. A few other travelers packed their things and talked to the receptionist, not minding their presence. There were a few cushions and a large table near the windows, and a wide closet between two doors that led to different hallways.

He smiled when he saw them. He had brought a bit of everything: mostly seafood, some vegetarian rolls for Aang (he didn’t _need_ to eat, but he deserved it) and enough salt and spices to give the food some _taste_. Even the richest families of the Earth Kingdom survived on food that tasted like flour.

The creature showed up that afternoon. It raided the village, wrecked the marked and mercilessly broke into the hotel.

They heard it just one second too late. A blind animal crashed the door and sniffed the air. The travelers and passerby’s screamed. The receptionist hid behind the desk.

Zuko immediately unsheathed his new swords and swung them at the animal. The blades cut a shallow gash along its paw. The creature hissed and shrieked. A sharp tongue cut the air like a whip and hit him dead on the chest. Zuko hit the ground with a painful thud, but when he tried to get up, his muscles wouldn’t respond to him. His heart picked up.

The animal stared at Katara.

The spikes of ice didn’t touch it. They crushed under its paws. The poisonous tongue tried to smack her, but she jumped to the side before it could touch her. 

And the animal stomped towards the closet behind her. A tall woman in black climbed down from its back and kicked the door open. She grabbed something from inside.

“Hey! Let me go!”

“Don’t think so”

As Aang dragged helped out of the way, the woman dragged _someone_ from inside the closet and threw them inside a leather sack.

“What is this!?” Zuko demanded to know, trying to lift his head off the ground.

“Stay out of the way!” The woman hissed, dragging the kicking and screaming sack back towards the animal. “This is none of your business”

“Wait!” Aang stopped her. “Is that Toph?”

Zuko looked to him. Who?

“Don’t know. Don’t care. Just here for the money” The woman said. She effortlessly threw the sack on top of the animal’s saddle.

“I’ll pay you!” Shrieked the little voice from inside the sack. “I can pay you _way more_ than whoever sent you after me”

The woman seemed to consider it for a moment.

“How much money are we talking about?”

The mouth of the sack opened and a head peeped through it.

“A lot” the girl said. She couldn’t be older than twelve. She produced a bag that rattled with coins. “See?”

“You’re a bounty hunter, aren’t you?” Aang figured out. “Let Toph go! Now!”

The woman studied the bag. Zuko could barely keep track with that was happening. Katara was observing with confusion as well, but she held her waterskin tight. When she saw him, she ran across the room to check on him. And Korra was…

“Zuko! Are you okay?”

A rock shot up from the ground and hit the bounty hunter on the soles of her feet, making her lose balance.

“Go!” Little Korra commanded. “Go away!”

The bounty hunter looked inside the money bag, and considering the new offer, she opened the sack and let the girl— Toph— drop to the ground.

“Very well” she accepted with a grimace. “This is more than what your parents offered, anyways”

Aang quickly helped Toph to her feet. Zuko looked between Katara, the bounty hunter and this strange new girl.

The bounty hunter had already hopped on the saddle and was about to leave.

“Wait!” Zuko called. “What did you do to me!?”

The woman glanced at him.

“The toxins will wash out in an hour. Don’t freak out too much”

“How did you know she was here?” Aang asked.

“I didn’t. She did” she petted the animal on the side and raised a golden headpiece with the other “She only needed _this_ to smell her”

“You’re a bounty hunter?” Toph asked. “Can you teach me?”

“I don’t teach” she said.

“What if offered you _more_ money?”

She produced another (another!) bag of coins. The bounty hunter considered it for a second before snatching it from Toph’s hands.

“Meet me outside the village in two hours” she said. The animal squeezed itself past the broken door and left.

Zuko blinked.

Had that really happened?

Aang and Katara checked on him. Nothing hurt, he just couldn’t move. He was fine. Katara offered to bring her sealskin, but Zuko shook his head. If it would really wash in an hour, he wouldn’t need it.

But he was deeply offended by the event. This woman had broken into the hotel, disrupted their lunch (dinner?) and refused to give any explanations whatsoever. Toph, on the other hand, didn’t seem offended in the slightest. She had a very cheerful and lighthearted conversation with Aang, as if they were old friends.

“So you’re finally becoming a bounty hunter?” Aang asked.

“That’s the plan” Toph nodded. “Traveling the world, breaking the law… that’s the life”

Zuko wondered why she was _still_ there, but then she produced bag after bag of money and bought hotel food, which was too expensive for them, and he begrudgingly accepted her company. They had arranged some cushions so he could sit up. The toxins were washing off and he could already move his arms. Mostly.

“So, you two finally made up” she said, pointing at Zuko but not looking at him. He frowned.

“How do you even know each other?”

“I found her on a cave” Aang explained.

Of course he found her on a cave.

“What were you doing in that closet?” Katara asked.

“I was trying to find some badgermoles” Toph explained.

“Did you find any?” Katara insisted.

“Oh, yeah. I just found one. They have an entire cave system down here!” Toph said. She sounded excited. “I can’t wait to go down there. I haven’t found any badgermoles in a while”

“Are you trying to shift with them?”

“Yeah. Not much shifting material around here”

“Why badgermoles?” Zuko asked. “Aren’t there other animals you could pick?”

“Yeah, but none of them are earthbenders. Or blind” she explained. “Is there anywhere I could rest? My head hurts. I spent almost a whole day inside that badgermole”

“We’re in a hotel, Toph” Katara said.

“Well, _sorry_ for not reading the sign”

Zuko didn’t realize until her now the color of her eyes, a milky, empty white.

“A _whole day?_ ” Aang asked. “Won’t you turn into a badgermole?”

“Well, some weak crybabies will forget they’re human in a day or two” Toph said. “But not me. I used to spend _weeks_ down there”

Aang tried to show her the way to their room— it was booked for two nights, but they would be parting at in a few hours anyways, so she could have it. Toph rejected his help and insisted that she could do it herself, she didn’t _need_ help!

“Wow” Katara said. “I wonder where I heard that before”

“Shut up” Zuko mumbled.

“Oh, so you confess”

Aang returned as soon as he was sure Toph had picked the right door.

“Do you guys ever get a headache after shifting?” He asked.

Both Zuko and Katara shook their heads.

“I never feel any pain” Katara said.

“Do _you_ get a headache?” Zuko asked.

“Not really” Aang said, sitting back down. “Must be an Earth Kingdom thing”

“I once heard a legend of a guy who became a howler wolf-monkey” Katara said. “Because he spent too much time inside the head of one”

“Do you think that can really happen?” Aang asked.

“Who knows? Maybe” she smirked. “Maybe Zuko will turn into a noodle someday”

Zuko glared at her, but not with anger. There was a tinge of playfulness.

“Nah. He doesn’t spend enough time as a dragon” Aang said dismissively, as if he was accusing Zuko of doing something wrong.

He glared at Katara.

“Maybe _you’ll_ turn into a seal someday” Zuko shot back.

“Well, _I’m_ not going anywhere” Aang stated. “And Zuko’s too fluffy to be a noodle”

He really just called him _fluffy_ , didn’t he?

But Katara laughed at him, and that made it worth it for a moment.

**竜**

At night, Toph hopped on the shirshu’s saddle. June cracked her whip and the creature started running. It was the fastest Toph had ever moved, and it was great.

She couldn’t quite _feel it_ , but she heard it: voices, the clinging of metal, and the shirshu slowed its pace. It sounded like some sort of training camp.

“Why are we stopping?” She asked.

“I have a message to deliver” June replied. “Won’t take a minute”

Because June was going to kill two birds with one stone. She had the girl, and she knew where the dragon was. If those signs told the truth, she may be getting some good money for the information.

**竜**

That same night, they flew for the first time.

They walked away from the village until the sky was black as ink, and Zuko shifted. His strong, healthy wings spread until there were no stars in the sky. Korra cried and tried to get away, and Zuko tried to seem the least threatening possible, not growling even once or even showing his teeth. It took some time, but Aang and Katara finally convinced her to hop on his back. She closed her eyes and buried her face in Katara’s chest and Katara held the little Avatar close, like a mother.

“You’re so cute!” Zuko heard her whisper to the baby.

He tried to take to the air slowly, so she wouldn’t be scared. Flapping his wings and soaring close to the ground at first. She cried anyways, because maybe Katara was right and he _was_ useless, but she was distracted when Aang started to fly.

“See? Flying is not scary!” Aang said. He held onto Zuko’s left horn and let him do all of the work.

They flew higher and higher, towards the north, hoping to make Azula think they were heading for the Northern Air Temple, or maybe the North Pole. Hours passed, and Korra stopped crying. Zuko even heard her laugh a little. They didn’t stop for anything. Katara and Korra had breakfast whilst flying, and she reassured Zuko that they were keeping some seal jerky for him. Zuko didn’t know how to feel about the fact that Katara ate seal meat.

There were lights below, probably from a city or a military camp, but they were far away, they probably couldn’t see them.

Then a net wrapped around him. His heart jumped. He tried to flap his free wing but it couldn’t hold his weight.

Korra screamed. A cushion of air tried to keep him from falling, but that only made the descent slower.

He felt Katara’s painful pulling on his mane. A whip of water cut right through the ropes and freed him just in time, but they were much closer to the ground. Soon a series of nets were shot up into the sky.

“Zuko!”

Zuko managed to avoid the nets. One of them was split in half by a water whip.

Aang left. He could feel his absence. But high above, the clouds twisted and warped and formed a thick blanket of darkness. Zuko quickly beat his wings and flew up and up, until they crossed that cold, wet barrier and found themselves out of sight. Aang was back by his side now.

He wished he could thank him.

“Zuko, are you okay?” Katara asked. “Aang?”

“Yeah, I’m okay” Aang appeared suddenly next to her.

Zuko was okay. He was okay, even if his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. It was different this time. If they caught him, Korra and Katara wouldn’t survive the fall.

He should be asking if _they_ were okay.

They set up the tent in the mountainside, away from cities or military camps or prying eyes.

“I can’t believe they’ve followed us all the way here” Katara commented.

“We’ve ran into them before” Aang said. “I don’t think Azula is down there. They probably have orders to shoot down every black dragon they see”

Zuko started a fire. They didn’t have any pots and pans, but they had a bag of rice, so Katara bent a ball of water over the fire to cook it, constantly moving and rotating it to keep the rice from falling through. Soon the water was boiling. The control she had over her bending was impressive.

While they ate, Katara asked:

“Zuko, why does Azula have a statue of you in her ship?”

Zuko nearly spat out his rice.

“A statue of Zuko?”

“Probably target practice” Zuko suggested, but Katara shook her head.

“No, it was a statue of a black dragon behind her throne”

Oh.

“That wasn’t me” he said. “That was my great-grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin”

Katara snapped her mouth shut.

“I didn’t know Sozin was a black dragon”

“He was the original Black Dragon” Zuko explained. In low voice, he added: “I guess I took after him”

“No, you didn’t!” Aang exclaimed. He grabbed his hand “You’re nothing like him”

He looked at Aang’s hand in his. The blue arrow ended on its back.

Sozin killed the Air Nomads. Zuko wouldn’t forgive himself it something ever happened to Aang.

He wasn’t like him, he told himself. _He wasn’t like him._

Once inside the tent, Katara asked about his wing.

“You fixed it” Zuko said. “It doesn’t hurt anymore”

She gave him a worried look, and he knew she was still thinking about the net. How they’d been caught so easily.

“We’re not getting caught again” he promised. “I’ll be more careful next time”

“Because you’re the epitome of careful” Katara teased, but her tone was humorless. “I just don’t want anyone getting hurt”

Korra slept cuddled up to her, as usual. She hugged the Avatar closer.

“No one is getting hurt” he insisted. “I promise”

This seemed to calm her down a little. Once Korra was deeply asleep, Katara called:

“Zuko?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you turn into a dragon?”

For her, he could. And when he did, she brought Korra out of the tent with her and curled up into a ball against his mane. The feeling of her _so close_ to him made his heart full.

She didn’t deserve to live so scared.

The next morning, as they packed their things, Aang asked Zuko to come with him to ‘check something out’. Once they were out of earshot, Aang asked:

“Do you like Katara?”

Zuko’s heart stopped. He was surprised by his bluntness, but he already had the answer. He loved Aang. He loved him more than anything in the world.

“No” he blurted out. He couldn’t have them both, and he chose Aang.

Aang looked away.

“Oh” he mumbled. He could probably tell Zuko was lying.

Zuko felt like the worst partner in the world.

**竜**

Dragon hunters do not negotiate with dragons.

Princess Azula was much more than a dragon.

She introduced herself as a simple Earth Kingdom noblewoman, concerned with the return of the dragons to her Nation. She came from a rich family. She could pay them as much money as they required. She was simply asking for assistance: The Black Dragon had stolen a young girl on her charge. She couldn’t be older than five years old, her skin was dark and her eyes were blue. She desperately needed to get the Black Dragon away from this child. She had contacts in Ba Sing Se. In return for their help, she would be happy to assure them a great reward. They would live in such impressive conditions, that they would never need to hunt dragons again.

**竜**

During the following months, Zuko cut his hair regularly, making sure it never touched his shoulders, but not short enough that it couldn’t be pulled into a topknot if he wanted to. It was almost comforting to know that he _could_ do so, if he felt like it one day. All it would take would be a strip of cloth to hold it together.

Zuko didn’t want to wear a topknot. His father wore a topknot, and his sister wore a topknot, and yeah, his mother and uncle and cousin had worn topknots as well, but that kind of pull on his hair reminded him of the palace, and the formalities, and his family, and the Fire Nation as a whole.

And just like that was the reason why Zuko wouldn’t wear a topknot, it was also part of the reason why he kept his hair at that length.

He missed his home. Most times, he could forget about it entirely, because he had more important things to focus on, like fighting angry earthbenders or learning how to thread a bracelet from Aang, because he insisted Korra would be less scared of him that way (but he suspected Aang just wanted to spend time doing nothing with him, and Zuko couldn’t complain).

But sometimes he heard a tune that reminded him of his mother’s lullabies, or the glint of light on the water and the smell of rain brought him back to Ember Island, his father’s hand on his shoulder, guiding and comforting. Back when his family was happy. Even dumb masks hanging from the stands of the markets made him think of the extravagant masks worn by the actors of the Ember Island Players. And in a sense, watching Korra learn new words and bending moves reminded him of Azula, who was two years younger than him, and whom he had watched grow up. She had been a prodigy, too. Ever since she was Korra’s age, she was exhibiting as much talent and prowess as the little Avatar did now.

They used to play together when they were little. They would chase each other around the gardens and play hide and seek and pull pranks on the guards from time to time. Zuko had a distant memory of teaching her how to fly, but he couldn’t quite tell if that had been him or his father.

What happened? What had been the breaking point? His mother’s disappearance, maybe. But Azula had started to show cruelty far before that. Had she always been like that?

He thought about this as he watched Korra sleep. She’d gotten a cold and Katara had been worried sick about her for the last days. Zuko didn’t really think it was dangerous, but Katara’s anxiety was contagious. In any case, it was nice to see her sleeping soundly and without risk of sudden death.

It would be nicer if that didn’t mean they had to stop in the middle of the day, on the edge between the desert and the prairie, where they were perfectly visible from miles. There wasn’t one tree to hide under, and the wasteland was dry and desertic. Zuko and Katara were dressed in Earth Kingdom clothes, to avoid suspicion, and Katara had pulled her hair into a simple braid. It was winter, thankfully. A few months earlier she would nag Zuko until he agreed to turn into a dragon and hold a wing up for shade.

“How is she?” He asked for the fifth time.

“She needs rest” Katara replied. For the fifth time. “You know it’s hard for her to fall asleep midflight”

Oh, he knew. She talked so much he would pray for her to fall asleep for five minutes. Despite fearing the Evil Black Dragon so much, she still had the idea that bending raindrops to his face was funny.

That was the perfect moment for Aang to come back. The wind blew dust on their face before he appeared in front of them.

“Hey, guys! Check what I found!”

And he proceeded to pull their lunch out of the Spirit World.

Katara picked one of the berries between her thumb and forefinger.

“Oh, more nuts!” She said, trying to sound enthusiastic. “Thanks, Aang”

“I think this one’s just a rock” Zuko pointed at one of the nuts.

But there wasn’t much else, and they still had some meat from yesterday’s hunt. And besides, Aang had gone through all the effort of finding food for them when he himself wouldn’t be eating anyways, and Zuko appreciated that.

Once Korra woke up, they decided to keep going. Katara had discovered how to pull water from plants, so whenever they encountered a half-dead, stumpy bush, she would add a thin string of water to her waterskin. As long as they didn’t drink much, they could keep it only half-empty for most of the time.

Korra was awake, but still weak and tired and they had to make another stop at sunset. As usual, Katara ended up carrying her the last hour. And as usual, Zuko offered to carry her instead.

“Korra, wake up” Katara urged her. When Korra opened her eyes, she asked: “Can Zuko carry you today? Please?”

Korra glanced at Zuko, buried her face in Katara’s shoulder and shook her head.

Just… great.

They came across a small village of only two dozen houses in the southeastern Earth Kingdom, where they rented a room at a stinky inn to rest for the night. Zuko paid while Katara took Korra to the room.

“No need” The man at the counter said when Zuko offered two silver pieces. “We understand what it’s like to be hurt by the Fire Nation. You can sleep here for a night. No need for money”

Zuko was almost offended (he didn’t like people pointing out his scar), but they were running short of money, and he didn’t exactly enjoy mugging people. Katara especially hated it when he did it, insisting that stealing from non-rich people was dishonorable. Zuko made sure to pick the target with the most expensive clothes after that.

They found a Pai-Sho board in the closet, and Aang and Zuko taught Katara the rules while Korra slept in the bed. After being beaten a couple times, Aang resumed his jewelry making afternoon activities, threading what looking like it was supposed to be a doll.

“Did you finish the bracelet?” He asked him. Zuko shook his head.

“I give up. This thing is impossible”

“You’re making a bracelet?” Katara intervened. “Who is it for?”

“Korra, I guess”

“I’m sure she’ll stop being scared of him if he gives her something pretty” Aang explained. Katara turned to Zuko.

“See, Zuko? Aang knows how to make people like him”

“Shut up. Both of you” he retrieved the ugly, evil, impossible bracelet from his pocket. “Can you show me how to make it look good?”

Katara took a look at it, even though Zuko was talking to Aang.

“The knots are all backwards” she pointed out.

“No they’re not!”

Aang took a look at the bracelet. It was green, made with cheap Earth Kingdom thread.

“She’s right” he said. “They’re all backwards”

“Maybe I’m just holding it backwards” Zuko turned the bracelet upside down.

“Nope. Still backwards” Katara chuckled. “I can’t believe the Black Dragon is defeated by a piece of thread”

“I bet you would do a much better job” Zuko said.

“Actually, I would” Katara crossed her arms and gave him a smug smirk. “I’ve been sewing my own clothes since I was six. Give it to me”

Zuko complied, and Katara showed him how to tie the knots correctly. She was sitting _really_ close to him, and their forearms were brushing together.

“See?” She said, once Zuko got the hang of it. “It wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Shut up”

“You’re welcome” Katara gave him a wide smile, and Zuko had to restrain himself from smiling back. “Aang is right. I think Korra will appreciate it”

Zuko looked at the ugly green bracelet in his hands.

“You think she’ll like this?”

“Yeah! Right, Aang?”

“Oh, yeah! You could become best friends!”

If anyone else had said that, Zuko would assume it was sarcasm, but _Aang actually meant it._

Not a week later, they were sleeping in the forest by the mountains. Korra woke up one night in cold sweat, and intended to wake Katara, but Zuko was already sitting up before she could bother her.

“What is it?” He asked

Korra stared at him.

“I miss my mommy” she whispered.

Zuko sighed. Aang wasn’t showing up, which he assumed was because he wanted Zuko and Korra to bond over dead mothers.

“I understand” he said.

“The dragon took her”

“The dragons took my mother, too”

Then Korra started crying, and Zuko guessed he might as well hug her, because that’s what he found comforting when he cried, but she flinched away from him.

“Look!” He exclaimed, forcing a smile. “I… uh… I made you this!”

He showed her the pathetic bracelet he had made, but she wouldn’t take it.

Well, wasn’t that great.

He ranted about it with Katara later.

“She hates me!” he exclaimed, when Korra wasn’t listening. She was playing with Aang. “I don’t know what to do anymore! I tried talking to her, but she won’t listen to me! And she won’t take this stupid thing!” He waved the bracelet in front of her. “What do I have to do to make her stop being scared of me?”

“I think what Korra needs is patience and comfort” Katara suggested, hands clasped together. “Take it slow. Stop trying so hard. She’ll realize you’re not scary someday” She forced a smile for him. “We only have ten more years of living together, after all”

Awesome.

“Yeah, Zuko!” Aang exclaimed, a few feet behind them. Korra was sitting on his shoulders. “I’m sure she’ll realize you’re just a fluffy noodle soon”

Zuko couldn’t even get angry at him anymore. He just shook his head and continued walking.

**竜**

Zuko saw Aang at Katara cuddling one day. He had his head on her shoulder, with his eyes closed. Katara was clearly asleep, because she was snoring, but Aang knew very well what he was doing.

He surprised himself by finding that he wasn’t jealous. A warm feeling squeezed his heart. He wanted to join them.

**竜**

Katara sometimes had nightmares. It was very unusual for them to wake anyone up, unless she was sleeping straight up on top of Zuko’s dragon mane, and her trashing and shifting made him open his eyes. She didn’t talk much about them, insisting that it was nothing for them to worry about. But she still let them hold her, until she started crying, and then until she felt safe enough to stop crying.

**竜**

Katara taught Korra how to hunt, how to skin animals, how to treat meat and furs and leathers and how to cut out different organs. Aang was super uncomfortable with the topic, so he left as soon as he saw Katara with a knife and a dead rabbit, under the excuse of keeping watch. Zuko observed the class, however, because he had never been taught this as a prince, and he considered treating meat was a useful skill to have as a traveler. But Katara seemed more interested in telling Korra stories of her life in the South Pole than in teaching her how to cut out fat and tendons. She told her about the glaciers, and the warriors, and the seals. Zuko listened to that as well. He ended up asking questions. He asked what it was like to grow up in the ice, and she told him it was beautiful, but parts of it was difficult. In return, he asked him what it was like to grow up in the palace.

It was difficult. But parts of it (his mother, the company of his cousin and uncle) were beautiful.

Korra’s memory was new. She was four years old. She didn’t have a past. When you were so young, you only had your present.

Even after the class (and the food) was finished, Zuko and Katara kept talking, sitting by the river.

“The men left when I was eleven” she told him. “My dad was the chief. He left my brother and me to take care of the tribe. So that’s what we’re doing”

“It must have been hard” Zuko said with sympathy. “You were so young”

Katara looked at the sky.

“Aang would say we’re still young”

**竜**

Aang told her his secret one day.

“I was the Avatar”

Zuko’s eyes opened slightly. The movement had woken him up.

“This is all my fault”

Zuko’s head raised from the pillow.

“I think” Katara said. “That you’re here for a reason. The world needs you now”

After a couple seconds, she added:

“Korra needs you now”

**竜**

They didn’t encounter Azula again. But they did have a few problems with the Lóng Company.

It was almost as if the innkeepers were keeping tabs on them.

They found more and more signs announcing the return of the dragons. The Black Dragon specifically was causing chaos and destruction in the Earth Kingdom. His dragonguard consisted on two or three benders, one of which was suspected to be an airbender. Direct orders specified that the youngest one was not to be harmed.

Flying at night with a cover of clouds proved to be an almost perfect method to avoid being shot down, but even when the Lóng Company didn’t find them, it wasn’t uncommon for their camps to be raided by farmers looking for a reward, or for innkeepers to sell them out to aspiring dragon hunters.

There was a concerning amount of aspiring dragon hunters.

You could see them in carnivals, kids wearing masks and chasing lizard-dogs with fake wings strapped to them. Or humble farmers sharpening swords and axes and talking about putting the blade through a dragon’s heart. Kind travelers who exchanged herbs and teas with them on the road, asking if they knew where the Lóng Company could be found, because they intended to join them.

It was a constant reminder that he wasn’t safe. He was in enemy land, even if he actually wanted to help them.

They all wanted him dead. Anywhere he turned, there they were, with sharp weapons ready to end his life.

Sometimes Aang said something and it reminded him that he was actually sixteen years old. And that scared him even more.

(Even if he abandoned his country and went against his own family for them, they would still hate him. They still wanted him dead).

It made him appreciate much more the time he spent with Aang and Katara. They were the only ones who didn’t want to kill him. He could even joke that they were the only two people in the world who didn’t hate him.

He felt safe with them.

He could close his eyes, lying down just a couple of feet away from them. They would laugh at him and tease him and occasionally call him a fluffy noodle. He would sleep as a dragon for them, and for _himself,_ because that guaranteed Aang and Katara sleeping next to him (or _on top of him_ , sometimes).

It was cheesy, but it was… It was nice. Really nice.

**竜**

They made it to the Northern Air Temple, and Aang was super excited to show Katara _everything_. And Katara was very excited to learn. Suddenly, this activity that used to involve Aang and Zuko alone— the discovery, the listening, the learning and, at times, the crying— now belonged to Katara as well. She hugged Aang when he cried and laughed with him as they played airball.

It wasn’t invasive. She belonged to this space, and to these moments.

**竜**

The Northern Air Temple was occupied by refugees, who had made multiple disrespectful modifications to the structure, but Aang had somehow brought himself to forgive them. Zuko didn’t understand, but if it brought him peace, he would respect it.

They still kept a room for Aang. They also kept Zuko’s secret. They were clearly uncomfortable to have the Black Dragon walking among them, but no one said anything. Not to him, at least. And hopefully not to the Lóng Company. Or to Azula.

If you stood on top of the tallest tower on the tallest mountain, when the skies were cloudless, you could see a sliver of blue in the distance. Katara often sat there and looked at the sea, from far away. Zuko knew she hadn’t seen the sea in a long time. It was calling for her. She belonged to the ocean.

They were both away from home.

Aang kept the sky cloudless for her.

**竜**

Aang took the chance to teach Korra a thing or two about airbending and Air Nomad culture. She showed her the statues, taught her different forms, and played a few games. But meditation was too boring for her. Her footwork was way too grounded. And she got frustrated and lost patience too quickly. Ironically, she seemed to have a particular interest in firebending. But when Zuko tried to teach her, she ignored him and walked away.

**竜**

Zuko ended up spending half of his nights in the temple as a dragon, better known as a “fluffy-noodle-pillow” by Aang and Katara.

**竜**

He woke up crying one night. Katara held him in her arms until he felt safe again. She kissed his forehead and his hair and his scarred cheekbone. She promised she would never let his father touch him ever again. It dawned to Zuko that they were both still kids.

**竜**

They left the temple when they found out the Mechanist had been the one to design the war balloons for the Fire Nation.

**竜**

Their months traveling together consisted on flying, Korra hating him, miraculously inhibited midnight cuddling and Zuko pretending he wasn’t falling in love with Katara Katara. They traveled all over the continent, visiting deserts and forest, mountain ranges, pebble coasts, mountain ranges and the occasional Air Temple, where they spent a couple weeks each time they arrived.

Aang kept an excellent guard, managing to warn then always in time to run before the Lóng Company saw them. And when they did see them, he fought bravely by their side.

Korra definitely wasn’t scared of Zuko anymore. She just… didn’t like him. She didn’t respond when he talked to her or followed his orders, and it always took a bit of coaxing to convince her to fly with him. She never accepted the bracelet. It was okay. Zuko didn’t want to give her that stupid bracelet anyways.

At four years old, she was too young to master any element yet, but she was becoming exceptionally good at waterbending. She couldn’t bend big masses of water like Katara yet, but she could catch a fish, and freeze a drink and extinguish a fire, and that was good progress.

She became closer with Aang as well. She asked questions and demanded Aang showed her airbending tricks. He always did, of course, and they had a lot of fun together, but whenever Aang tried to _teach her_ some airbending, it simply… didn’t work. She could bend rocks and fire, although rather poorly, but she couldn’t move one sheet of paper or a single leaf. Aang looked strangely anxious about it. When Zuko asked what the matter was, Aang gave vague and indirect replies.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing” he said with a smile. He was clearly worried.

The Avatar was supposed to be a bridge between all nations. There was no Air Nation anymore.

He wondered if airbending was even possible.

He tried to teach Korra some basic firebending breathing forms, to help her keep control, but nothing seemed to work. She didn’t listen to him and instead asked Aang or Katara for help, even when Zuko was the only one who could give her what she needed.

It was frustrating, but it was probably his fault. The Big Bad Black Dragon scaring little children and taking their mothers away. He couldn’t expect the little Avatar to like him.

He was a dragon, after all. No matter who he chose to be, he would always be a dragon. He would always be a little too much like Sozin.

They slept in caves, forests, villages and cities. In fact, it happened while they were staying at a nice hotel room in a small city near Chameleon Bay. The event that would lead to disaster. It didn’t seem like anything serious at first, but he would soon be proven wrong.

The four of them had stumbled upon a town too big to be a village but too small to be a city. It had beautiful temples and gardens and it seemed mostly untouched by the war. A river divided the town in two, and it led to Chameleon Bay, several miles away from there. The preparations for a festival were just starting, and the air was vibrant with colors and music. They decided to stay there for a day or two. They hadn’t seen any signs of the Lóng Company in a long time, and Azula was nowhere to be seen.

Katara insisted they bought masks for the festival. She and Aang tried a bit of every food, making grimaces and laughing together, and Korra ended up blowing up half a dozen barrels of water out of fun. Probably because Aang dared her to. He did spend a lot of time snuffing out candles and lanterns to annoy rude vendors.

But the _real_ festival wouldn’t start until two days later. They weren’t there to see it— a much bigger event happened that warranted a greater celebration, but in the two days they spent in the town, Zuko saw enough.

They spent the half of the day sleeping in the hotel. There was a vague painting of a dragon in their room. Aang went out to have fun while Zuko, Katara and Korra slept, and once he woke up, he found Katara showing Korra new waterbending moves in the balcony. He stared at Katara for maybe a second too long, because she was beautiful, and promptly looked away when her eyes met his.

He ripped apart the first poster calling for dragon hunters that he found. He crumpled it into a closed fist and burned it when no one was watching.

There was a big celebration in the streets that day. There was music and fireworks and even thought Zuko believed they should kept going as soon as possible, Aang and Katara looked happy, so he didn’t say anything.

The moon was high in the sky despite being the middle of the day.

He first saw a glint of green among the people, and his stomach dropped. He knew immediately what was going on. He really didn’t want to see it.

“Beware!” Someone announced. “The fearsome Green Dragon!”

The people booed. Zuko took a step back.

Aang looked back. Their eyes met.

“Zuko” he whispered. “Maybe we should leave”

_Your cousin, Lu Ten, did not survive the battle._

Aang reached for his hand. Zuko pulled away. A pair of brown eyes followed them from the distance.

The crowd yelled. The long paper puppet was carried down the street, adorned with googly eyes and red ribbons that symbolized blood. Someone was giving away sharp sticks and telling people to wait before they playfully poked the dragon between laughter and curses.

_Smoke from incense. His uncle kneeling by a tree._

_“It means Uncle’s a quitter_ and _a loser”_

Zuko walked away.

The astronomical event was forecasted. Preparations for the Day of Black Sun festival had started months before. That day, a fleet of wooden Earth Kingdom ships advanced towards the confused firebenders, in the northern Earth Kingdom, with the goal of taking the colonies back. It was a brutal battle, with no bending and away from home. But in the continent, the people celebrated the loss of power of all firebenders, with great festivals in almost all cities of the kingdom. There was music and dancing and dragon puppets. In the moment the moon touched the sun, the people cheered and stabbed the Green Dragon, piercing right through the paper and impaling it from side to side. The Green Dragon vomited red ribbons and incense smoke

“Zuko! Wait up!”

They chased after him. They didn’t hear the last part.

“And now!” An announced exclaimed. “To the city of Jìniàn, home to the Lóng Company…!”

Oh, they were planning this as well. Just gentle nudges— making sure no innkeeper gave them housing, chasing them away from the woods, scaring them into moving south, though it was mostly luck that their plan had been so successful. They honestly expected to meet them in any other city, but they were in Jìniàn, where the founder of the Second Generation of the Lóng Company, Cheng, the Slayer of the Green Dragon, was born, and where he lived, and where the Company had set its main quarters in this new era of dragons.

Zuko locked himself in the hotel room. Aang and Katara came to check on him.

“We shouldn’t have gone” Katara said.

“No” Zuko countered. His fists were clenched. “It’s okay. You guys go”

Aang and Katara exchanged a look.

“Are you sure?” Aang asked.

“Yes! Leave me alone!” he snarled.

Katara sighed. She didn’t want to fight.

They left him alone. Korra gave him one last nervous look before Katara closed the door behind her.

He should have expected it. The Earth Kingdom couldn’t hold _one_ festival without poking fun at his cousin’s death.

He was in enemy territory. Even if he was on their side. Even if he wanted to help. They would still hunt him down like an animal.

And Lu Ten… who had flown over the walls of Ba Sing Se even when Uncle warned him not to because he was young and wanted the take Ba Sing Se for once and for all, for the siege to be over and _go home…_

Lu Ten had wanted to take Ba Sing Se. _Uncle_ had wanted to take Ba Sing Se. They dedicated their lives to it.

The people of Ba Sing Se killed a member of his family to protect themselves.

His family killed people of Ba Sing Se as well.

Did they deserve it?

Did Lu Ten deserve to be parodied and mocked?

Zuko punched the closet. The wood gave into the fire and crashed into a million tiny splinters.

He didn’t know.

He really didn’t know.

Aang and Katara weren’t there when it happened. It was a discreet spectacle, without fire or blades, and almost without noise. It was during the eclipse, after all, and Zuko had no power. No firebending and no fire breathing. A dart cut the air and hit his neck. Zuko went out in seconds.

A smart trick, to scare it and single it out. A humble suggestion by that kind Earth Kingdom noblewoman, who offered them a life of wealth and luxury. After loosely keeping track on it for two years and actively following it for one, they’d learned its tricks. It was exceptionally good at imitating human intelligence, but deep down it was a violent, bloodthirsty beast. It wasn’t smart enough to stay with its pack when it got angry.

The dart had enough poison to kill an elephant koi, and while prior offers might have called for its head, the new contract demanded the dragon to be brought to the Earth King _alive_. Its heart was still beating when they shoved it into a small sack and carried it out of the hotel in a cart pulled by ostrich horses.

And then it woke up.

The sack was ripped to shreds as the Black Dragon, the living image of Fire Lord Sozin, rose into the sky and opened it jaws to devour the terrified citizens of Jìniàn. The noble warriors of the Lóng Company charged the bolts into the Scorpion-Spiders and fired. A wing was pierced right through. One of the bolts buried in its neck. There was both screaming and cheering. Hot blood poured from the sky like rain. They Lóng Company may have killed its last dragon five years before, but they still had their touch.

The Black Dragon collapsed. Its heavy body crashed stands and trees, but no human being was harmed.

Then a sudden wind raised and tossed one of the carts to the side. One of the dragon hunters, a man named Cheng, stopped breathing. His lungs didn’t respond to him. The air was being ripped out of him until there was nothing else and his vision blackened.

The Black Dragon could control the skies. That was known by everyone. The First Black Dragon could make stars fall from the sky. This one was no different.

There was ice and childish crying and a storm swirled over the city, but their earthbenders blocked the killer wind with walls of rock and the rest of the Company members managed to load the Black Dragon on one of the remaining carts. The ice and the rain and the wind didn’t touch them. When Cheng, the most skilled earthbender, regained consciousness, he extended his arms and opened a pathway, a tunnel below the earth, and closed the entrance.

They set course to Ba Sing Se.

**竜**

Aang and Katara held each other tightly and tried not to cry, but the tears leaked from her eyes no matter how hard she squeezed them shut and clenched her teeth.

Zuko was dead. Or gone, at least. They caught them. After nearly one full year…

“We shouldn’t have left him alone” Aang muttered.

Katara sighed.

“Aang, there was nothing we could do”

“Yes, there was!” He pulled away. “We could have stopped them in time! I could have searched harder. I…”

Because no matter how fast he flew, Aang couldn’t spot the carts. Zuko was gone.

No, no he wasn’t gone.

Korra was sleeping on her bed, so Katara moved silently to her knapsack to retrieve her waterskin and hang it at her hip.

“They must have taken him to Ba Sing Se” she said. “They had to take him to the Earth King, right?”

So they packed up their things. They would leave in the morning. There was no time to lose.

Katara carefully tucked Korra in for the night. She kissed her forehead.

“Goodnight” she whispered.

“Katara?”

“Hm?”

Korra was looking at her with big, blue eyes.

“Is Zuko dead?”

The question shot a bolt through her heart.

“No” Katara replied. “Zuko’s fine. We’ll find him soon” she brushed her hair away from her face. “Do you miss him?”

Korra yawned.

“He’s scary” she mumbled.

“No, he’s not!” Katara argued with a weak smile.

“He is!” Korra laughed. “But I think he only wanted to scare the bad guys”

“He wanted to protect you, you know?”

Korra slowly closed her eyes.

“I miss my mommy”

Katara’s heart broke.

“I know” she replied. She desperately wanted to comfort her, but she also knew that no words could take this pain away.

“Zuko misses his mommy, too” she mumbled. She drifted off after that. Katara gave her one last fond look before getting up.

Aang was staring at her, but he quickly looked away.

“We’re going to get him back, you know” Katara said.

Aang looked down. It dawned to Katara that this must be the first time in a long time that Zuko was… gone from his life. They spent _four years_ together.

Aang was quiet.

“Thank you, Katara” he said dryly. He bowed respectfully. Then he disappeared and Katara was left alone.

**竜**

The trip to Ba Sing Se was long. Longer than Aang would have liked it. If he were alone, he could have reached it in a matter of days instead of _weeks_. And all because he had to keep up with _Katara_. She deliberately refused to run or steal an ostrich horse and opted to walk instead. She argued that Korra couldn’t go any faster, but all Aang heard were excuses.

She didn’t care about Zuko like he did.

So he left her alone. On the second day of travel, he jumped into the air without saying goodbye despite her strident yelling and flew over plains and forests until she was out of sight.

Who knew what they were doing to Zuko as they _walked?_

Traveling alone was much faster. He didn’t need to stop to let his partners rest or eat and he didn’t need to be cautious about getting caught or even worry about dragon hunters. He was quick and invisible. In a matter of hours, he would reach Ba Sing Se.

Below him, the river turned into a lake, divided in two by a narrow string of rock. A series of boats crossed one of the lakes, from one end to the other, but Aang couldn’t see where they were coming from. He ran closer to the water, and he spotted something: under a sharp roof of rock, inside a kind of cave, a hidden port released and received ships. They must be the refugees crossing to Ba Sing Se. The port was hidden to avoid the Fire Nation.

It was smart.

Then why was it on fire?

Puffs of red light, screaming and the sound of broken machinery crossed the air. It was under attack.

But Ba Sing Se was _right there_. Zuko was close. If he rushed…

Zuko would never forgive him if he ran again.

The warriors defended the civilians with shields, swords and fans. They were an elite militia. An organization of brave young women who fought under Avatar Kyoshi’s principles. But they had left their uniforms behind to dedicate themselves to paperwork and security. Their armors were poor, and they did little against the fire. The komodo rhinos broke through a security of platypus bears and destroyed the remaining ships in port. Firebenders jumped into first line of attack and only a thin fan shield blocked the strikes of fire. Civilians fell dead left and right, and the small warriors stood helplessly against a horde of enemies.

The battle was lost. All the ships in port were broken and the refugees had to way to escape. The few earthbenders that were old enough to present opposition— all the fathers and some mothers had been sent to the front— were mercilessly crushed like pieces of coal.

One warrior stood between her people and the enemy. With a fan in one hand and a sword in the other, she waited for the next attack and successfully dodged it, kicking her enemy to the ground. A vicious flame nearly struck her, and her fan took all the impact. The sheer force of the strike forced her backwards, but she kept her feet stuck to the ground, remaining stubbornly grounded. Her blade drew blood. The fire drew smoke. She refused to be knocked down, but she was alone and her enemies were many. The fire came from all angles. Her fan caught flame and burned to a crisp in a matter of seconds. With her sword alone, she attacked, and in that moment of terror and anger, a kick broke her root and her back hit the ground.

Her sword was kicked away. She tried to get up, but when she looked up, a fist was aimed at her face. This was where it ended. It would be an honorable death.

Then the wind picked up. It brushed drops of water into the port. Rain started to fall. A sharp whistle made her enemy’s muscles tense.

They were _afraid_.

In that instant of distraction, she swept her leg along the floor and knocked him down. A kick to the face left him out of combat.

The wind pushed the firebenders aside. It forced the komodo rhinos into the water and snuffed out every flame. She picked up her sword. The fight wasn’t over.

The rain flooded the port. Oxygen was pulled out of the soldier’s lungs. Weapons cracked in two. Helmets clashed against each other, pushed by an invisible force. The small warriors grabbed their swords and fans and broke through the storm, pushing the firebenders away. The Earth Kingdom celebrated a small victory that day.

It was a spirit, the refugees would later say. A spirit that defended the innocent and the helpless. A small god of wind and storm. They’d been blessed.

Aang later stood, with both feet on the ground, on top of that string of earth that broke between two lakes. Ahead of him, far into the horizon, he could distinguish the walls of Ba Sing Se. Where Zuko was.

Behind him were the refugees, the civilians, and… Katara, miles away.

Zuko had embarked in this adventure for a reason. He hadn’t done it out of love, but out of duty. He had a responsibility to the people his country harmed. He had been born destined to follow his father’s footsteps, but he took that destiny, reshaped it and invented a new meaning to his life. One of his own. And he had humbly asked Aang to share this adventure with him.

Zuko had never quite understood why Aang would hesitate to fight like he did. He thought Aang would be the one with the most anger and resentment in him.

He fought to protect the Avatar, a child who hated him. The Avatar, who Aang refused to be to the point of ending his own life to escape from it. He escaped from the Avatar twice, when he promised he wouldn’t do it again.

And he abandoned Katara in the process, whom Zuko went back to over and over again.

He looked at Ba Sing Se. And he realized Zuko would never forgive him if he hurt someone else for him.

He jumped off the cliff, and flew all the way back to Katara. He had something to fix.

**竜**

Katara cried a lot when Aang left. She tried not to let Korra see her, but then she collapsed to her knees and sobbed until she was out of breath and out of tears and her throat burned.

Then hurt turned to anger. And she continued walking.

She had started a fire near the river at night. On her own, because Zuko wasn’t there to firebend or help her cook, and she had to keep an eye on Korra as well, because Aang wasn’t there to take care of her while Katara took care of the food. So with her focus divided, she ended up burning her fingers in the hot water while bending it, and the food came out undercooked and without taste. Her feet were covered in blisters from walking without stop and her muscles were sore from running and carrying Korra with her. Her heart was hard, like a piece of ice. So when she heard familiar footsteps behind her, she didn’t turn around to see him.

“I’m sorry” Aang mumbled.

That was enough.

She pulled the boiling water from the cooking pot and froze it. The spikes of ice stabbed through Aang without touching him.

Of course. He was a _ghost_.

Aang took a step aside, so the ice wasn’t impaling him anymore.

“I shouldn’t have ran off”

“Oh, you shouldn’t!? Gee, thanks for letting me know! I had no idea!” Katara crossed her arms. Korra spotted the traitor and walked towards him. “Don’t touch him, Korra” she commanded. She looked at Aang. “If he hates being slowed down by us so much, maybe he shouldn’t be here at all!”

“Katara, I’m sorry. I was worried about Zuko and I…”

“No, I understand” Katara interrupted him. “I’m such a burden that you decided to leave me behind!”

“No! It’s not that!”

She closed her fists.

“Stop lying, Aang” she ordered him. “I know why you left. You can travel faster on your own”

Aang blinked.

“Then why are you angry?” He asked. “If you think I should have found Zuko on my own…”

“Because Zuko isn’t the only one who needs you!” She exclaimed, and she suddenly realized just how _selfish_ she was being. She took in a deep breath. “Why did you come back, Aang?”

Aang looked away.

“Because Zuko would want me to” he said. “We said we would help protect Korra” after a moment, he added: “And because I felt guilty for leaving you alone”

“Good. You should”

She kneeled by the fire and started to pack up all the cooking elements she had used. It had been a bit more difficult, but she _could_ cook alone. And Korra wasn’t moving too much, anyways. She was just practicing her waterbending.

As long as she didn’t have to fight, she didn’t really _need_ Aang. And she was a damn good fighter on her own, anyways.

“Aang!” Korra exclaimed. “I missed you!”

“I missed you, too!” Aang kneeled to hug her. Katara glanced at them a felt a pang of anger at _both_ of them.

Of course he would leave. Of course they would be left alone to take care of everything _again_.

Even thought she _could_ take care of things by herself.

She haphazardly spilled water over the fire. They were left in darkness.

“I’ll keep guard” Aang said. Katara didn’t reply.

She lay down with Korra and tried to sleep, but Aang wouldn’t turn into wind. He stood there, _patrolling_ or something, and he _kept making noise_. She sat up to _tell him to stop_ , but Aang spoke before she could open her mouth.

“We’ll find Zuko together”

“If you say so, Aang”

“I’m serious!” Aang insisted. Katara didn’t reply this time.

She went to sleep, and woke up a little less angry than the previous night. As they walked together by the river, Katara decided to share something with Aang. Maybe hoping to make him feel better, or to make him feel worse. She couldn’t tell.

“When I was eleven” she said. “All the men of my tribe left to fight in the war. My father is the Chief, so _he_ was the one to make the choice” she couldn’t help but let a sliver of bitterness seep into her voice. “This was three years after my mother’s death. Which meant my brother and I were alone now. But he spent all his time hunting and playing soldier, so _I_ had to take care of everyone. Make sure everyone’s needs were met” she looked down. “We were so lost without my dad. I know he _had_ to leave, I know they needed him more than we did. I… don’t know why I feel like this”

At some point she forgot the point she was trying to make. She rarely asked for comfort. This was new for her.

“Because you still needed him” Aang finished.

Katara angrily rubbed her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry. She had cried a lot the day before. She was done crying.

“Katara?”

“What is it, Aang?”

Aang looked at her.

“I promise I will never leave you again” he said. “I’ll be here no matter what”

Katara wished she could believe him. She longed for nothing more than to have _someone_ — she didn’t care if it was a friend or a lover— by her side, with the certainty that they were there for good. To love and be loved without the fear of them choosing something or someone else and leaving. She wanted the security and the loyalty of genuine partnership and camaraderie.

Aang was offering her that just the day after taking it from her.

She would need more time to trust his promise.

But those were nice words to hear.

**竜**

“Aang?”

“What is it?”

“Sorry about yesterday” Katara said. “It was selfish of me. Zuko needs you”

“You need me too”

Katara shook her head.

“I can handle myself”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t”

Aang took a step closer to her.

“Besides, I promised I wouldn’t leave”

**竜**

They arrived to Full Moon bay a couple days later. There, Katara found an old friend who helped her get into one of the few remaining boats, and even offered to escort her to Ba Sing Se. Aang flew by her side, invisible yet clearly there.

“It’s been crazy working here” Suki said. “Just the other day, the Fire Nation attacked us, and this _spirit_ showed up out of _nowhere_ ”

“Is everyone alright?” Katara asked.

“We had a few loses” Suki admitted. “But the Fire Nation got it worse. As least now we’re allowed to work in uniform”

Little Korra was blown away by the Kyoshi Warrior uniform, with the fans, robes and face paint. She probably recognized them as her own clothes, from a past life. Katara couldn’t imagine what it must be like.

**竜**

Even after getting inside Ba Sing Se, things were more difficult than they expected.

They were guided to the Lower Ring, where they just barely managed to gather enough money between the two of them to rent a small apartment. No one questioned three children of sixteen, fifteen and four years old living together without parents. They struggled a lot to cross to the Middle Ring, and crossing to the Upper Ring proved impossible. They were blocked by two men in black and green uniform, with wide hats that covered most of their faces.

“Hey! We need to talk to the Earth King” Aang demanded.

“The Earth King is not taking audience requests” one of the men said.

“This isn’t a request” Katara intervened. “We need to talk to him. Or… someone”

“We’re looking for our friend” Aang said. “We believe he’s with the Earth King”

“We assure you, your friend is not with the Earth King”

No matter how much they insisted, the men wouldn’t bulge. Not even when they told them they were traveling with the Avatar. They were forced to return to their apartment for the night. Curfew started at sunset.

“Well, that was a waste of time” Aang lamented.

“I can’t believe they turned us away like that!” Katara said through gritted teeth. She was showing Korra how to make mist with a bowl of water

“What did you expect? He’s a dragon!”

“Well, they didn’t know that!”

She dropped all the water. Korra carefully bent it back inside the bowl.

“I don’t think we’ll get any help here” Aang said.

That night, after telling Katara about it, he left to investigate. He flew over the walls and tried to overhear any conversations regarding dragons or missing people. All he could get was that the men were called the Dai Li. They were pretty silent.

But he _did_ find something. A series of small windows with vertical bars, running along the ground surrounding the royal palace. When he passed through, he found himself in an empty metal cell. He passed through the keyhole. A long hallway extended to both sides. Aang searched through the dungeon, but all the cells were empty. There was only one guard patrolling.

He walked towards a smooth stone wall. Then he extended his arms, and the rock receded, giving way to another big hallway.

The stone closed before Aang could pass through.

They talked to the regular police, but they shrugged and said they would do everything they could. That was obviously a lie.

Two attempts later, Aang and Katara were sick of waiting. There was a river that coursed through Ba Sing Se, passing through the Upper Ring. She nervously picked up her skin and held it in her arms.

It was so _dark_. Covered in black dots and spots like grey hairs that grow from the stress. She stroked it and felt fingers run down her spine. Her own fingers. She shivered.

She couldn’t look for Zuko entirely on her sealskin. She would need to walk and waterbend, maybe even fight. And that would mean someone could _grab it_.

She bought black clothes instead and left her skin hidden in her knapsack.

Now, the challenge was _what to do with Korra_.

They didn’t know or trust anyone in Ba Sing Se, and they couldn’t take her with them. They would have to leave her alone. It was a great risk, but Aang didn’t suggest going find Zuko on his own. He would either go with Katara or not go at all.

Katara had a long talk with Korra that night. She told her that she and Aang would be gone for some time, but that they’d come back soon. She was not to leave the apartment, or talk to anyone, or go with anyone. She was allowed to use all elements she wanted in order to defend herself. They left food and water for her. She mustn’t go find them, even if she was scared. They’d come back soon. They promised.

Korra wasn’t so happy with this suggestion.

“I want to go with you!” She insisted.

“I’m sorry” Katara replied. “But you have to stay here”

“Why?”

“Well— because I say so. And besides… we’ll be back in a couple of hours. Don’t worry about it”

“I want to find Zuko too!”

Katara sighed.

“We’ll bring Zuko back, and I’ll tell him you’re sorry and that you’re not scared of him anymore, but _you_ have to stay here” Katara repeated. “You know that’s what he would want”

Suddenly, Korra’s little eyes filled with tears.

“I’m sorry!” She cried. “He’s gone because of me!”

Katara’s heart sank.

“What do you mean?”

“I wished he left!” Korra sobbed, stumbling towards Katara’s arms. “I said I didn’t want to see a dragon anymore!”

Oh.

“Oh, Korra, it wasn’t your fault” Katara squeezed her close. “You didn’t make him leave. I promise. The men that took him… those were bad men”

She hugged Korra until she stopped crying. Then she tucked her in bed and kissed her forehead.

Nothing would happen, right? They’d be back in a few hours.

She pulled up the black handkerchief to cover her mouth and nose and tied her hair into a ponytail. She shared a look with Aang.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

Katara nodded.

“Let’s do this”

**竜**

She jumped from roof to roof, sliding down the tiles and over bridges of ice that disappeared as soon as she crossed them. The wind followed.

But there was someone else, too, in the city. Another figure that ran and leaped masterfully without the need of bending, not quite following _her_ , but chasing the same objective.

She froze and shattered the locks of the gates that allowed the pass of the trains between one ring and the other. She slid silently between the houses, and every time a Dai Li guard caught glimpse of a shadow, he was attacked by a fit of cough.

The Royal Palace was heavily guarded by Dai Li agents. Earthbenders. They could encase them in rock with one movement. Katara observed carefully from a roof, considering her options. She doubted she could access the palace through the roof without _at least_ catching their attention, let alone reach the dungeons. She could see the small windows Aang had talked about. Judging by the agents standing by them, they were far too small to pass through, even if all the bars were removed or if she used her sealskin.

Aang _could_ pass through, but there was no way they kept Zuko unchained and unguarded, if he was down there. There would be a point in which he would need to _touch things_ , either locks or chains, and that would suppose a risk. He would need help.

Aang stood next to her, observing the scene.

“What do you think?” He asked.

Before Katara got the chance to reply, a new voice said:

“Seems to me you’re in a mission”

Katara flinched. She whipped water in that direction.

The boy that stood behind her was soaked wet (her fault), and looking at them like he had just found a gold mine.

“Who are you?” Aang asked.

“My name’s Jet” he replied. “I have something to offer you”

**竜**

Jet was the leader of a small juvenile guerrilla group called the Freedom Fighters. The reality turned to be even worse than the premise. He lived with only two other companions, as he had left the rest of his gang, and they both seemed pretty tired of fighting. But Jet still didn’t hesitate to bring two strangers into his house to present his new plan.

“We will infiltrate Lake Laogai tomorrow night” he said, spreading a map of Ba Sing Se over the table. “I believe they keep secret Fire Nation war criminals down there. If we manage to break in, we can find out what they know and use that information”

“I don’t know, Jet” one of his friends (Smellerbee?) said. “If they know anything, the guards must know it already”

“It’s not for the guards. It’s for us!” He explained. “They won’t share all that information, but we can put it to better use”

Katara didn’t care _why_ they wanted to break into this prison (Lake Laogai?). She was more concerned with the _how_.

“Is this were they keep the prisoners?” she asked.

“The _real_ prisoners” Jet said. “They use the dungeons of the Royal Palace for thieves and scammers— honest people trying to survive. But the real deal are kept _here_ ”

Aang and Katara exchanged a look. This was key information.

“If Zuko’s down there…” she started. “This may be out best shot”

Aang looked at Jet.

“Count us in” he said.

“Awesome” Jet smirked. He looked at Katara in the eye. “You’re a waterbender. That will come in handy. You two could create a distraction and then join us to search the cells”

Smellerbee stormed off, sick of hearing Jet talk. She slammed the door behind her, and his other friend (Longshot?) gave Jet a long look of disappointment.

Jet scowled.

“Fine” he said. “We’ll do it without you”

He proceeded to tell Aang and Katara the plan.

Katara was… she was happy, okay? They had a plan. They were close to finding Zuko.

Then why did she have a bad feeling about it?

**竜**

Korra was alright. Oh, she was alright. She hugged both Aang and Katara when she saw them, and Katara realized this must be the first time in a year that she was left alone without them. And she remembered what happened last time she was left alone, in the swamp.

She spent most of the next day sleeping, so she would have energy during the night. When she couldn’t sleep, she practiced waterbending. She told Korra stories of the Water Tribes, about warriors and northern wolves and glaciers higher than any mountain.

“I want to see the ice” Korra said.

Katara made some ice cubes for her to hold and see, but she knew it wasn’t the same. Korra probably didn’t remember the South Pole. She grew up away from home.

She readied her warrior’s clothing. Her metal gauntlets and boots and a pair of waterskins. She was a warrior. She trained with the best waterbenders in the world.

She could do it.

That night they left Korra again. She hugged her tight and said:

“We’re going to look for Zuko”

Korra wasn’t letting her go.

“I don’t want you to leave too”

“I promise, I’m not leaving” Katara kissed her forehead. “It’ll only be a couple hours”

“Am I a bad Avatar?”

Katara blinked. She didn’t expect that question.

“You’re not a bad Avatar” Aang said before Katara could answer. “You’re a great Avatar!”

“Yeah” Katara agreed. “I’m sure you’ll do great things someday”

“But I couldn’t protect Zuko” she murmured.

“You’re still learning” Katara reassured her. “We’ll be okay”

They both hugged her one last time before leaving. They would later regret that decision.

**竜**

There used to be a saying in the Fire Nation—it’s old and no one remembers the exact words, but it went something like this: “The sun is always brighter after darkness”

The First Black Dragon could make stars fall from the sky with his voice. Or so the legends tell. Ironically, the Second Black Dragon was the only dragon who hadn’t been informed of the plan. He did not know of the Second Comet.

Oh, but the Blue Dragon did. In fact, she played a key role on the day of the Falling Star, the coming of the Comet.

The Red Dragon had no option but to follow her.

**竜**

Lake Laogai. It was more than a high security prison. It was much worse.

The sky was red that night.

Katara pulled away the water to reveal a hatch and a ladder that led to a long, dark hallway illuminated only by green glowing crystals. Aang had taken the form of wind, a soft breeze that moved slowly through the damp corridors.

Jet had given her the instructions previously: she had to pull the water into the hallway through the hatch. That would buy them enough time to search the cells. It was probably better for Aang to stay with her, he had said, in case something went wrong.

So Katara stood near the ladder and whispered:

“Aang, stay with Jet. I don’t trust him”

Aang left.

She pulled the water with force and ferocity into the dungeon. It flooded Lake Laogai like a true avalanche. As soon as she heard footsteps, she slid into an empty room and pressed herself against the wall. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

She considered freezing them in place, but that would give away that it hadn’t been a construction accident or a broken hatch. She opted to pull even more water. It spilled all over the ground, into the room she was hiding in and under every door in the hallway. Moans of pain came from the cells, thankful for the drops of water.

She decided to pull even more.

There were _people_ down there.

She hadn’t seen Jet check any of those cells.

Because of course he didn’t.

Without hesitation, Katara followed down the hallway, successfully avoiding the Dai Li agents and catching a glimpse of Jet waking quickly in the distance. With some effort, she caught up with him.

“You didn’t check those cells” Katara said. Jet closed his eyes, as if he were annoyed.

“What’s your friend’s name, again?” He asked.

“His name is Zuko” Katara answered. “Why?”

Jet made a pause. The air agitated nervously around them.

“A Fire Nation name” he said, finally.

“He’s from the colonies” Katara lied.

“I see” Jet nodded.

They followed down the hall, avoiding all the Dai Li agents that rushed by.

“You know, I wasn’t completely honest with you” Jet said. “I hope you can forgive me”

Katara stopped.

“What are you looking for, really?” She asked.

Jet gave her a thoughtful look.

“Years ago, the Earth King passed a law that any dragon seen in Earth Kingdom territory must be brought to him” he explained. Katara’s stomach dropped. “He wants to use them against the Fire Nation. He thinks he can tame them to use as weapons”

Her breath hitched. No, no, it couldn’t be. She wouldn’t let it happen.

“He can’t do that!”

“That’s exactly what I thought!” Jet exclaimed. “Dragons are wild beasts. They can’t be tamed or trained. I would know” he looked at her. “When I was eight, a green dragon burned down my village and killed my parents” he unsheathed a pair of hook swords. “Dragons are dangerous, even if the Earth King and the authorities of Ba Sing Se won’t admit it. I won’t let anyone else be hurt by them. Not if I can help it”

Katara sucked in a breath. She couldn’t let that happen. She had to stop him.

Before she could summon a water whip, a sudden force smashed Jet against the wall. He dropped unconscious, like a dead weight.

“Aang!” Katara hissed.

“You were about to do the same!” Aang suddenly materialized next to her. “I won’t let him hurt Zuko”

Katara looked at the unconscious boy on the ground, probably around the same age as Zuko. She shook her head.

“Let’s go”

**竜**

The biggest cell waited at the end of the hallway. It was the last one. It was guarded by a pair of heavy metal gates.

There were no Dai Li on sight. Aang made sure of that. And the ones that were near… well, they were sleeping now.

It wasn’t hard for Katara to force the lock. She just had to fill it with water and freeze it, disfiguring the metal. But she didn’t open it immediately.

She sucked in a nervous breath.

“He has to be here” she murmured.

Aang offered his hand. She squeezed it.

“He has to” he agreed.

If he had a heart— a physical one— it would be beating to the point of deafness. Zuko was just behind the door, waiting for them. He couldn’t wait to hold him, kiss him, promise that he would _never_ let anyone hurt him again.

He had been hurt and mistreated way too many times.

Yet he hesitated. A sudden terror stuck him. What if he was fatally hurt? Had they tended to his wounds when he arrived? An arrow had hit his neck!

What if he wasn’t waiting for them? What if he was dead?

The image of Zuko lying dead on the ground, either human or dragon— it made his hand flinch away from the door. No, no, he didn’t want to see it. He didn’t want to know.

“Aang?”

He breathed in. He didn’t need it, but the pressure of the air helped him keep calm.

If Zuko _was_ there, and he didn’t open the door, he would never forgive himself.

And Zuko wouldn’t want him to run away.

This time Katara was the one to take his hand and squeeze.

They opened the door together.

**竜**

The first thing that hit him was the darkness.

It was dark, cold and humid inside the cell. The insides were made of metal, but it wasn’t a prison for earthbenders. No regular prison required such a high roof, or such heavy chains.

The chains, the chains were thick. Just one link was as big as Aang himself, and they were made of rock instead of metal.

“Zuko?” Aang called. “Are you here?”

Two lights in the dark. One big and one small, only a sliver of golden, and two slits for pupils. He would recognize those eyes anywhere.

But almost a second too late, he noticed something strange. Zuko’s eyes had always been human, and intelligent, and it was too dark for his pupils to be so small. He could tell what he was thinking by just looking at his face, even when he couldn’t talk.

The pupils staring at him now where thin vertical slits. He had chosen to put his focus on maintaining a physical form, so he could be ready to _touch_ _him_ , to pull at the chains, to hold him. He could be touched. And he could be burned.

At the speed of lightning. The dragon pounced. Red flames flashed. A shield of ice shot up just in time.

It took him a moment to process what had happened.

“Zuko?”

He let out a guttural growl, the kind of growl that Katara hated so much and that she always scolded him for. Katara breathed heavily. She let the ice fall, but kept the water with her.

He lunged at them, jaws wide open. He jumped into the air and pushed Katara to the side.

“Zuko! It’s us! Stop!” Katara shouted.

Zuko’s head snapped in her direction. His neck stretched. He tried to grab her.

No, no, no!

Zuko’s jaws opened. Aang pushed against him just in time to make the fire hit the wall, instead of Katara.

In that bright flash of light, he saw the heavy chains holding down his long serpentine body, his legs, his wings, still bleeding from the Scorpion–Spider bolts. Only his neck was allowed to move, but a tight collar with long a chain kept him bound to the ground.

The image was monstrous.

He went back to the ground, trying to keep a semi-physical form. He wanted to talk without getting burned.

“Zuko! It’s me!” he cried. “I’m down here!”

Zuko’s eyes fixed on him. Those weren’t his eyes. Those were cat eyes. Lizard eyes.

That wasn’t Zuko.

He breathed fire on him. Katara screamed. He didn’t even feel it.

“Zuko! Please! Listen to me!”

“Aang!” Katara called. Their eyes met. She was crying. “H—He’s…”

Suddenly the doors slammed open. The chains were pulled down to the ground and a semicircle of stone closed against Zuko’s snout, like a muzzle.

They put a _muzzle_ on him.

It was disgusting. It was cruel and inhumane and it reminded him of the way he had kneeled in front of his father. Aang turned around to find the Dai Li by the door.

“What did you _do_ to him!?”

One of the Day Li took a step forward. He had the same robes as his companions, but he didn’t hide his face behind a hat.

“I simply gave it something to calm down” he said, “Believe me. Without it, it would be much more dangerous”

“That’s not true!” Katara argued. “He would _never_ hurt us! He’s our friend!”

The Dai Li agent gave her a sad look.

“I see he’s gotten to you too” he lamented. “Dragons are excellent at imitating human intelligence. They’ve fooled more than one. The Fire Nation lets them lead their country!” he gestured at Zuko. “But trust me. In reality, they’re no more than mindless animals”

“No they’re not!” Aang countered. “Release him! Now!”

Zuko struggled against the muzzle. The man made a polite pause.

“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced” he said. “I am Long Feng, head of the Dai Li. This dragon is property of the Earth King, and so it is under my guardianship. This is the first living dragon we’ve captured so far, after the Green Dragon fiasco. It is my current duty to figure out a way to keep it under control”

“Zuko isn’t _anyone’s_ property to experiment on” Katara said through gritted teeth. She pulled the water from her waterskin. “Let him go”

“If I let it go now, what do you think will happen?” Long Feng asked. “It seemed to be that it just attacked you” He took a step towards them. “Let me give you a piece of advice: go back to your homes, forget about this, and trust me when I say that I only have the Earth Kingdom’s best interests in mind”

“We’re not leaving without Zuko” Aang stated.

Long Feng’s face twisted into a grimace. Aang’s heart stopped.

“Very well”

But before he could earthbend, something happened. An… explosion. A terrible echo that shook the whole lake.

Zuko’s eyes widened. He felt something. He struggled against the chains more desperately than before. Tongues of fire escaped his closed mouth.

The Dai Li agents seemed unaffected, but there was a subtle change in Long Feng’s expression, from anger to worry.

“Put them in cells” He ordered. “We’ll see what to do with them later”

He turned around and left the cell, followed by his agents. Two of them stayed behind. They adopted earthbending positions and shot a pair of rock gloves. They flew right past Aang. One of them caught Katara’s wrist, but she blocked the other with a water whip. Aang pushed against the agent closest to him and crashed his head against the wall. He cringed at the dry cracking sound and hoped he wasn’t dead. Before he could help Katara, she had broken her attacker’s root with ice and knocked him down. She got rid of the glove around her wrist.

They exchanged a look, then looked at Zuko.

To see his lover, drugged and chained up like an animal, struggling against a _muzzle_ …

It made his blood boil. He would _kill_ every last and single one of the men who did that to him. He would make them pay.

Katara placed a hand on his shoulder, and he remembered why he came back after he left her.

He remembered he didn’t want to kill people.

“What do we do now?” she asked, her eyes never leaving Zuko.

Something was happening outside. He could hear yelling and fighting and broken noises of bending.

He kneeled in front of Zuko. Their eyes were at the same level. Zuko shifted and growled and desperately tried to break free to bite him, burn him, _hurt_ him, do all of the things he always promised he would protect him from.

His eyes filled with tears.

“Zuko, it’s me” he said. “Do you remember me?”

The firebenders broke into Lake Laogai in that moment. Their heavy boots produced a deafening echo in the metal walls.

“Aang…”

Aang hesitated for only a moment. He stroked Zuko’s mane.

“I know you’re still there. I love you. Please come back”

Katara put a hand on his shoulder.

“…I think they did to him what they did to me” he said. “I mean, not exactly. Kind of”

Aang looked up. Katara was crying.

“I couldn’t break free no matter for hard I tried. Not until I got my skin back”

“But Zuko doesn’t have a sealskin”

A distant memory crossed his mind. How they had forced a liquid down his throat, back when he first came back to the Fire Nation. He abandoned his dragon form in an instant, with no control over it. And he remembered Toph, who spent hours inside the mind of badgermoles, yet was terrified of becoming one if she spent _too much time_ in there.

How long had Zuko been a dragon?

Had he forgotten what it was like to be human?

Katara sniffled.

“We need to get him out of here” she said. She tried to freeze water around the muzzle to crack it, but the dragon growled and quick flames leaked out of his jaws. She took a step back.

“Aang, help me with this!” She shouted at him.

“Katara, stop!” He almost cried. “He’s going to burn you!”

“I don’t care!” She went for the chains around his claws, but he cried to scratch her. She tried to break the collar around his neck, but it was solid rock. It wouldn’t bulge to all the ice in the world. “I’m not letting _anyone_ take someone I love away from me again!”

Aang’s head perked up.

“You love him?”

Katara’s hand left the cuffs and collars. She sighed.

“Yeah. I do. I love him as much as I love you” she looked at him with hard, determined eyes. They were cold and blue as ice. “And I’m not going to lose either of you. So help me get this off him!”

Aang’s eyes widened.

He loved Katara.

He knew Zuko loved her, too.

But they had missed a chance. And now he was gone.

The firebenders freed their fellow criminals and murderers from the cells under Lake Laogai. They could take out the Dai Li with a snap of their fingers. They were blessed. It was a special day. A celebration, to the First Black Dragon and his First Victory under the light of the Great Comet. Such had been the day, that the Great Comet had been renamed Sozin’s Comet. A hundred years came and a hundred years went. Maybe Aang should have been happy to see a Black Dragon in chains in that particular day, after what they’ve done.

But Zuko had filled a hole in his heart. Not all of it— it would never be fully healed, but he felt more empty now that he saw his lover be taken away from his arms, vanishing from his very own mind.

Aang sobbed. Katara stopped struggling with the chains.

The soldiers rushed to the last cell of the hallway. But they wouldn’t free this last prisoner. No, they were under Princess Azula’s orders.

They broke in. Katara responded with a water whip, ice daggers and a wall of ice, and Aang decided Katara was right. He would _never_ let them take someone he loved away. Not again. So he let out a battle cry and transformed into a storm, a typhoon of its own inside the cell. The fire was brutal and merciless and it turned water into steam in a matter of seconds, but the wind blew between them and Katara, protecting her from the scorch because she was the only one left to protect.

He protected her, yes, but she fought bravely. She was a true warrior, after all, and she pushed against the fire like the merciless avalanche she was. She had lost someone she loved, too.

Zuko continued to struggle. He was a firebender— a _dragon_ , and the fire came from within. The chains started to crack.

But more firebenders arrived. And their focus wasn’t on Aang or Katara. They had their eyes set on Zuko, who couldn’t defend himself. Dragon scales were fireproof, but blades could still cut through. They charged in with spears and swords, and Aang had to protect him, even if he didn’t remember him or loved him anymore, even if they had turned him into an animal.

He swept along the ground but he couldn’t break their root. They were ready to face him. The wind spirit that had defeated them once before. They raised their shields and advanced despite the push. The wind whistled. It roared. Like a thunder. The thunders, outside, they touched every corner of the sky and reached under the lake. The Blue Dragon succeeded where the Red Dragon and the Green Dragon failed. Just like Zuko had predicted.

Swords were knocked to the side, but spears cut through the air and dug into the flesh. Zuko shrieked and tried to get away. Aang knocked down the attacker, and he just barely caught the next one. He snapped a spear in two.

And Katara fought alone. She was running out of water. The firebenders kept turning it into steam. She took a step back. She was trying to be minimalistic. Sharp water whips, thin sheets of ice. Aang wanted to help her, but the hot blood poured from the dragon’s body at an alarming rate. He couldn’t save Zuko. And he couldn’t save _her_.

They punched fire on her face. The knocked her down. She crawled away. A firebender leaned over her. She was out of water and out of space to run. This was her end.

Rock cracked. The muzzle gave in.

Zuko’s neck rose high above the ground. The firebender’s eyes abandoned Katara for a moment.

**竜**

The first thing that Zuko remembered was that he loved Aang.

The second thing he remembered was that he loved Katara as well.

He loved her. He loved him. He loved them both so much it hurt. He loved their smiles and their voices and their touches and the way Aang brought so much joy and happiness, like a little sun, and how Katara showed an incredible love and courage, to him and to everyone.

They were the loves of his life.

She was cornered against the cuff that held down his right claw. A firebender stood tall above her.

Zuko wouldn’t let her be burned. Not ever.

He breathed fire on the soldier. He pushed it away, of course, but it was a good enough distraction for Katara to knock him down with her own hands.

The chains shook. Aang looked up. Zuko roared in terror and anger. They were surrounded. They would hurt them. More firebenders were coming, but he fought them as bravely as he could, because he owed it to them, pushing through the pain that pierced every inch of his body. His jaws opened. Fire rained over them, live lava spilling on their heads. Some screamed. Some roared. Aang took the chance to blow as much air into Zuko’s fire as possible. It amplified, expanded, filled every corner of the room. Fangs and tusks clashed against metal. Spears and swords crashed under the weight. Hot blood spilled on the ground.

(But he took care, even in his frantic state, he was careful not to burn her).

Eventually, the firebenders gave up. They backed away and raced out the door. They had a city to take, and they wouldn’t waste their lives on a feral dragon.

(He could feel the comet. It filled his insides with fire. He had warned them. He knew Azula. She was strong where Uncle was weak: in the only place where being weak mattered).

Aang came back down to the ground. He helped Katara up (she didn’t have one burn in her body. He had succeeded).

“Are you okay?” He asked her.

“I’m fine, I’m fine” she reassured him.

His whole body screamed. It hurt, it hurt and his muscles gave up. He hit the ground. His skull shook at the impact. He closed his eyes.

“Zuko?” Aang said with a string of voice.

Everything disappeared for a moment, and Zuko vaguely wondered if this was how Aang felt when he turned into wind. Like he had no weight, no body, no pain. Then the pain came back, like a sharp stab, but it was hushed by a sense of warmth and softness. A pair— no, two pairs— of arms wrapping around him. He realized he was smaller. He didn’t have tusks, or wings, or a tail. His scales were gone. The cuffs were too big for his wrists and neck and ankles and they were easily pulled away from him. He couldn’t see, because his face was being pressed against a shoulder.

“Zuko! I… I was so scared!”

Aang. That was Aang’s voice. It was broken and cracked. The gentlest hand tangled into his hair, and something inside his chest broke.

He let out a broken sob. Everything hurt. So much. His scar burned. He could see his father standing over him. No one would hold him then. He was thrown into the cold. No one, but…

Arms wrapped around his waist. The touch was different, but familiar, as equally as loving as Aang’s. His head slipped from Aang’s shoulder to rest on hers. She kissed the top of his head. His hair was bloody and gross and sticky, but she didn’t seem to care.

“You’re okay…” she murmured. “You’re okay, you’re okay”

She was talking to herself as much as she was talking to him.

He wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what. As if he had forgotten how to speak.

She was crying, too, but not sobbing. Tears ran down her face, but she was smiling as she hugged him, and he summoned the strength to hug her back. Aang’s hand had never left his head. He was still stroking his dirty hair.

“Zuko?” He asked. Zuko turned to look at him, and the sight of him alone made his heart feel full. He leaned in to kiss him. He had missed him _so much_. He was so happy to see him.

It was just a peck. A reminder than he was _here_. Aang’s thumb brushed over his cheekbone.

They pulled away. Katara wasn’t looking at them, but Zuko couldn’t help it. He took her hand, and after a moment of hesitation, she squeezed back.

They kissed. Just a soft brush of their lips. She pulled away immediately.

“We should go” she said. “We left Korra in the city”

Aang’s eyes widened.

“Oh, no. I forgot…”

“You get Zuko out of here” she commanded. “I’ll go find her”

“We’ll go with you” Zuko intervened. His voice was hoarse and creaky and speaking felt like swallowing razor blades.

“No” Katara countered. “You’re hurt. I’ll meet you guys outside the city”

“If Azula’s here...”

“If Azula’s here” Katara cut him off. “I’ll deal with her. I’ve done it before and _won_ ”

No. Zuko couldn’t let her go alone. He tried to stand up, but a pang of pain sent him back to his knees. Aang held him up.

“I’ll come back to help you once he’s safe” he promised.

Katara took their hands.

“Take him to the Northern Air Temple” she ordered.

“But I won’t be able to get back here in time!” Aang argued.

“I’ll be fine” she looked at him in the eye. “He needs you more than I do”

Her lower lip quivered. Zuko couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong with her words.

“If this is about—!”

“It’s not about that” Katara lied. “Go! I’ll find Korra and meet you guys there!”

Zuko wouldn’t give in, but Aang did, and he couldn’t stand without help, so he ended up being practically carried out of the cell. At some point they had put the red Air Nomad cloak around his shoulders. Aang was dragging him down a hall, but he stopped in his tracks.

“The ladder…” he mumbled. “It must be flooded”

Zuko didn’t think he could climb a ladder, anyways.

“There’s…” he coughed. “There’s a passage” he said. “I think it leads to the palace”

It took them some time, but Aang finally found the door he was talking about. Zuko caught a glimpse of Katara running towards the ladder. Water wouldn’t be a problem for her.

**竜**

Katara didn’t need anyone to cook for her, or fight for her, or to ever protect her. She could do all of that on her own and more.

Her need for people (for love) came from somewhere much deeper.

**竜**

The passage was dark.

When they reached its end, they found themselves in the palace’s dungeons.

And when they left the palace dungeons, they turned around a few doors and hallways.

“I need to see something” Zuko explained, as he guided Aang away from the exit and into the heart of the palace.

He expected to find Azula there, sitting in the throne room. He almost hoped to see her, just so he could fight her.

She wasn’t there. In fact, there was _no one_ in the throne room. Not yet. The soldiers were still struggling to break into the castle, and the Earth King had probably been taken somewhere safe. The screaming and the noise from the battle outside reached deep into the empty halls of the palace.

Zuko had never been to the Throne Room. He hadn’t been brought to kneel to the feet of the Earth King. He doubted the Earth King even knew of his existence. So despite knowing what awaited him there, nothing could have prepared him for the sight.

Lu Ten’s corpse hung behind the throne, his green scales discolored and his shoulders dislocated from the awkward angle. He was twisted into a spiral, with his head on the center and his wings folded. His eyes had been replaced by glass marbles.

Zuko heart sank. He closed his eyes. He felt nauseous, and he would have thrown up had his stomach not been empty.

He couldn’t see him. He remembered learning how to fly with him, playing with swords and practicing fire breathing. His cousin wasn’t an animal, or a trophy.

And he had tried to burn Ba Sing Se to the ground, much like Azula was doing now.

Would they do the same to him? Would they do the same thing to Azula if she lost?

Did they deserve it?

**竜**

Finding the exit was hard.

Aang had to find something before they left. When he told Zuko, he couldn’t have agreed more. Aang snatched the object from a pair of small, sharp hands and stored it in a pocked of his cloak.

**竜**

Ba Sing Se fell that day.

Five years before Sozin’s Comet, General Iroh, the Red Dragon, the Dragon of the West, had led a siege on the city for six hundred days. He could have flown over the walls and burned everything to the ground, but he knew the Scorpion-Spiders were waiting for him at the Inner Wall and the Agrarian Zone in the outsides of the city, handled by a group of men that, with pockets swollen with gold and pride, would later call themselves the Lóng Company, after the first generation of the Lóng Company, which had slayed Fire Lord Azulon’s seven siblings many years before. The seven skulls were exposed in their headquarters, in the city of Jìniàn, for everyone to see when they visited.

The Red Dragon was wise enough to know that it was better to have a city to rule than no city at all.

Lu Ten grew sick of waiting. He disobeyed his father’s orders and was struck down before he could reach the city. His body was paraded like a trophy. They called the Red Dragon a coward. He was not a coward. He was a man who had lost his son, and that pain was both the reason why he abandoned the siege and why he came back to the Impenetrable City five years later following his niece, the Blue Dragon. Perhaps he intended to stop her. Perhaps he aided her because she was the closest thing to a child he had left. History could never agree on it.

What was indisputable was that the Blue Dragon was much smarter than the Green Dragon. She made it to the city escorted by a fleet of war balloons and blessed by the fire of Sozin’s Comet, the First (and only) Black Dragon. She set fire to just enough buildings to scare the population, but most of process of her conquest consisted in an exchange of words between her and the head of the Dai Li when discussing terms of diplomacy. She could talk, and if brute, mute dragons were already scary, an intelligent dragon was paralyzing.

She herself broke into the apartment that same day. She was barely seen. The silhouette of her armor was cut against the blue flames. Screaming and kicking didn’t stop her. A child wouldn’t take victory away from her. And a filthy waterbender wouldn’t stop her, either.

The Lóng Company fell that day. The mercenaries were incarcerated, for their crimes against the Dragons and the Royal Family. The Blue Dragon kept her word. They would never have to hunt dragons again.

That day the Fire Nation won the war, and Ba Sing Se fell on the claws of the Dragons once and for all.

It was a day of celebrations.

**竜**

Katara was buying fish in the market when she heard the little kids talking:

“Watch out! It’s the dragon!”

She instinctively looked up, but there were no dragons in the sky. It was a kid’s game.

One of the kids chased the other around the market, between the stalls and under the tables.

“Hey!” One of the vendors barked. “What did I say about dragons!?”

“But _dad_!” One of the kids— a girl— whined. “I saw a dragon!”

Katara’s eyes widened. She dropped the fish.

“Now, shut up about that dragon nonsense” her father scolded her. “We don’t talk about that”

Katara decided to approach the kid, discreetly and subtly.

“I’m sorry, but I heard you talking” she said. “Did you hear something about dragons?”

The kid hesitated.

“Dad says I shouldn’t talk about dragons” she said. “…But if I have to talk about dragons, I would tell you that I saw one”

“Really?” Katara tried to fake surprise. “What color was it? Was it red?”

“I don’t know. It was really dark. I saw it flying towards that mountain!” She pointed at a snowy mountaintop not far from the village.

“Is there any way to get up there?”

“There’s a path that starts outside the blacksmith’s forge” the kid explained. “But don’t go up there! Dragons are evil! They kill people!”

Katara smiled.

“Don’t worry” she said. “I don’t have any interests in seeing dragons”

That same night, Katara made a sign to her travel companion and took the path behind the blacksmith’s forge. She climbed all the way to the top of the mountain, walking until the sun came out and her muscles ached, despite the offers of help. Her companion was carrying something much heavier than her.

It was always stormy at the top of that mountain. Snow fell like daggers of ice and the wind could toss travelers off the cliffs if they weren’t careful. Pushing the snow aside was easy. Blocking the wind, not so much.

She found herself in a cave. It was technically dawn, but the black clouds covered the sky, like the wings of a dragon. The inside of the cave was dark like a closed mouth.

A pair of golden eyes (one big and one small) met hers. She was received with a guttural growl.

Katara crossed her arms.

“I think we’ve talked about growling already” she scolded him.

The two golden eyes widened. The wind outside halted.

“Katara?”

Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her. She hugged back.

“You’re okay!” Aang exclaimed. “I went back to look for you, but I couldn’t find you anywhere! I was worried you…”

“I’m okay, Aang” She reassured him. She held him for maybe a second too long, with her chin resting on his shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Zuko shifting and clumsily getting dressed. She smiled at the goofy scene and gave him a few seconds.

“Katara!” He exclaimed. His tone was awkward. “I’m… glad to see you made it!”

He gave a stiff bow. She rolled her eyes and hugged him.

“Are you okay?” She asked. “How do you feel?”

“Better” Zuko replied, but he still flinched at her touch. His ribs were probably bruised. Finally, his arms wrapped around her waist.

Something in the air changed. It stilled.

“Katara, where’s Korra?” Aang asked. Katara pulled away from Zuko.

“There’s someone outside who wants to see you” she said, taking Zuko’s hand.

**竜**

The Red Dragon was the greatest dragon to have ever existed. He was bigger in size, strength and fire than the Blue Dragon, and even of greater wingspan than his brother, the Golden Dragon. Legends say he could dwarf even his very own father and grandfather, the Silver Dragon and the Black Dragon. He was as magnificent as a mountain, or an ocean. And if the Black Dragon’s wings could cover the sky, the Red Dragon’s could embrace the whole world.

Such a sight would frighten anyone who didn’t know the Red Dragon personally. His golden mane and beard, his fangs and tusks and his claws as long as a spear each. The Black Dragon looked absolutely ridiculous next to him, barely the size of now three ostrich-horses stacked on top of each other when he took his form as a dragon.

Yet the Black Dragon wasn’t intimidated or even worried to see him standing on the edge of the cliff. All the storm clouds had dissipated, and the sun illuminated the red scales in all their glory.

He was happy, and relieved.

He was even more happy and relieved when he saw a tiny figure climb down from the Red Dragon’s back. She ran along the cliff and all the way to the mouth of the cave, where the Black Dragon stood.

“Zuko!” Little Korra cried. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she wrapped her arms around his leg. “I missed you!”

His breath hitched, but then he kneeled to give her a proper hug, despite his ribs screaming at him. The little Avatar was crying.

“I’m sorry I was mean!” She yelled in his ear. Zuko gave her an awkward pat in the back.

She was _hugging_ him.

Zuko could have cried.

“Hey, it’s— it’s okay” he said. She wrapped her arms around his neck (which still hurt. A lot).

“But I wished you were gone!”

Zuko didn’t know how to take that, but he chose to be offended as little as possible.

“Well, I’m not gone now” he said. He broke the hug and held her shoulders.

She was _safe_. Away from Azula’s claws.

Safe.

He saw Aang and Katara through the corner of his eye. When he glanced at them, he found them smiling.

“Are you hurt?” He asked Korra. She shook her head.

“Uncle Iroh saved me” she explained, pointing at the Red Dragon.

Zuko looked at his uncle. He was giving him an embarrassingly proud look.

_“I see you’ve found your path, Prince Zuko”_ his voice reverberated in the inside of his skull. _“I am happy to see you have such a good choice of travel companions”_

Zuko looked away. Aang had picked Korra up and was gushing over her. He had always been better at expressing his happiness than Zuko.

“Hi, Uncle” Zuko said, scratching the back of his neck. “What are you doing here?”

_“Can’t an old dragon take a trip visit a loved one?”_ He chuckled. _“Just thought I’d make sure you were alright, and deliver the little Avatar to the people that I know will take good care of her”_

He sounded happy. Zuko was happy, too. Katara and Korra were back. That was all that mattered.

_“And to your friends”_ Uncle said. Zuko realized he hadn’t been talking to them until now. Aang and Katara turned their eyes to him. _“I want to thank you for taking care of my nephew. I know he can be harsh and impulsive at times”_

“Uncle…”

_“But he is all I have left”_ he finished. _“You gave him what I could never give to him. I am glad to see that he has found a home in you two”_

Zuko avoided their gazes, maybe hoping that they wouldn’t see him blush.

“Uncle” Zuko coughed.

“Don’t worry, uh, Red Dragon” Aang said, bowing in the way they did in the Fire Nation. “We will look after him”

_“Please”_ Uncle chuckled. _“Just call me Uncle”_

A hand touched his shoulder. Katara smiled at him.

“He came back for me twice already” she told Uncle. “It was time I did the same for him”

Zuko couldn’t help but smile at her.

_“I can see he’s chosen well”_ Uncle said, and before Zuko could ask what he meant by that, he added: _“It’s been a pleasure to travel with you, Katara of the Water Tribe”_

But then Uncle’s eyes turned somber. He majestic head lowered.

_“Zuko”_ he said. _“There is one more thing I must tell you about”_

**竜**

Building the funerary pyre was more difficult than expected. There wasn’t much wood or oil in the top of a mountain, so Aang brought as many branches as he could from the forest below and Katara pulled all the water out of them. Zuko took the time to arrange them in the correct way meant for members of the royalty. It took them hours, and soon the sun had set and the thousand eyes of the night watched over them. It wasn’t a regular funerary pyre. It was much bigger.

Then Uncle laid down the body. He could hold his child with only one claw. There was no cloth to cover him, not even his head, so the shredded wings and the green scales were left on plain sight. Aang took Korra inside the cave so she didn’t have to see the dead body.

Zuko removed the glass marbles from Lu Ten’s eye sockets. His eyelids slid shut. It almost looked like he was blinking. His hands shook more than he would like to admit.

His throat constricted. He didn’t know if Lu Ten’s death was justified, but this was still _justice_. A proper funeral for a loved one. That was all they asked for.

Once everything was ready, Uncle Iroh lit the pyre. He breathed the fire of a thousand suns into his son’s body until the wood caught flame. Dragons were fireproof, because they had fire inside their bellies. But Lu Ten was dead, and so was his fire.

His scales melted like metal. A horrid smell of burning flesh that was disturbingly familiar filled Zuko’s lungs. Columns of smoke rose high into the sky, until the light of the fire didn’t reach them anymore, and they were lost in the darkness.

Uncle gave out a thunderous, tortured roar. It was so loud it shook the entire planet, because it was the cry of a parent saying goodbye to his child. At the sound of his voice, the clouds gathered and distant thunder replied to Iroh’s own. Rain fell from the sky, and smothered the fire, washed away the smoke and the ashes. Lu Ten was gone. His broken body wouldn’t he paraded or profaned ever again.

The Green Dragon was finally free.

**竜**

The Red Dragon opened his wings and left that night, after a long, painful goodbye that shook Zuko to the core. He apologized for his crimes against the Earth Kingdom, and for the crime of letting his child die. When Zuko cried during the funeral, he tried not to let anyone see him, but now he openly wept and sobbed as his uncle hugged him with only one claw, because two claws would break his already damaged human body.

_“Prince Zuko”_ uncle said. _“That child is the only one who can restore balance to the world. The fate of the world is in your hands”_

Azula needed guidance at best and limits at worst, and Uncle couldn’t provide either while taking care of the Avatar. The three travelers would do a much better job than him, anyways.

Zuko stood on the cliff watched his uncle leave. And he felt sad, but not alone, because the rest of his family was waiting for him inside the cave.

**竜**

Zuko made some tea. Uncle always said his tea was very ‘bracing’, and he assumed that meant it was good, so hopefully it would bring his companions some semblance of comfort.

“Uncle is _awesome_!” Korra exclaimed. Zuko didn’t know when she started calling him Uncle, but he wasn’t going to stop her. “He makes really good tea”

“Well, I’m not as good as he is” Zuko said as he poured some into the cups. “But hopefully I learned a thing or two”

He handed Aang and Katara a cup each.

“Do you want to hear uncle’s favorite tea joke?”

At night, Korra fell asleep rather quickly. She was tired of flying all day, even if all she’d done was to sit on Uncle’s back and let him do all the work. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she started snoring. Zuko was the one to tuck her in for the night.

“I’m happy you’re not dead, Zuko” she mumbled before falling asleep.

Well, he was happy to see her too.

Katara arranged the sleeping mats and the blankets against a rock, so Zuko had somewhere to rest his back when he slept, half sitting and half lying down. Apparently, he was still hurt from Ba Sing Se, even if he had spent a couple of days sleeping like a normal person and nothing happened (though he had to admit the way Katara instructed was much more comfortable). Their sleep schedules had been so messed up by the last year they spent together that he might as well go to sleep now, under Katara’s orders that he needed to rest in order to heal. He had no problem with going to sleep early! He would have more energy the next day.

Given the lack of dragon mane, Aang snuggled up to him and rested his head on his shoulder. Zuko didn’t even think as he wrapped an arm around him to pull him close. The movement came naturally.

He glanced at Katara. She was storing something in her knapsack.

He had kissed her. Or had _she_ kissed _him_? He couldn’t remember, but the vague memory of her lips against his made his heart jump.

And he’d done it in front of Aang. That wasn’t okay. But when he looked back at Aang trying to hide his guilt, he was surprised to find him grinning.

“Go on” he whispered.

Zuko frowned. Surely Aang must have lost his mind. Or was that just how Air Nomads saw relationships? Ugh. They didn’t teach that kind of things in history class.

But he was giving him permission, so Zuko awkwardly extended a hand towards Katara, expecting her to take it.

She was holding something in her arms. A dark, dark grey pelt. It was beautiful.

She took his hand with a nervous smile and sat down next to him. She spread her sealskin on top of him, and he was careful to avoid skin-to-skin contact with it.

“This should help you heal” she said.

“Thank you” he said. Their eyes locked.

She would lay her skin on top of him, even after what Azula did to her. Zuko was convinced there wasn’t one person in the world that was stronger than Katara.

He looked at it. The hairs were short and they looked really, really soft. He remembered it was pure white the first time he saw it. Now, it was almost completely grey (or was it brown?), covered in dark dots. The marks of the passing years.

If he suddenly grabbed the skin, he could order her around, treat her worse than Azula had, and she would be happy to follow his every order. Katara, as he knew her, would simply disappear, replaced by a mindless automaton. Katara was strong, and she had this one infinitely dangerous weak spot that she was so adamant to protect, that she didn’t even _use_ her sealskin anymore. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw her swim.

She knew what it was like. To disappear.

“I’m sorry for what Azula did to you” he said without thinking. “I understand now”

Katara froze, and Zuko was certain that he had picked the wrong time. Before he could take it back, she replied:

“It was like…” she searched for the right word.

“Like you weren’t there anymore”

“Exactly!” She sighed. “When I saw you back there, all I could think about was how I would have done _anything_ to bring you back. No one deserves to have… _that_ happen to them”

Aang shifted.

“Zuko, do you remember anything?”

Zuko tried to make memory, but there was a big black patch in his brain.

“I remember they made me drink something. I don’t think they were chi blockers. It tasted like… what they give you in the Fire Nation to help you keep control over your shifting when you’re little” he shook his head. “I don’t remember much after that”

The lack of memories made it feel like something was missing, broken. Something escaped his grasp. He was out of control of his own brain.

Katara wrapped an arm around him, over her sealskin. She knew. Of course she knew.

“Zuko…” she said. “You can touch my skin, if you want. You too, Aang”

Zuko’s eyes widened. He exchanged a quick look with Aang. It sounded less like permission and more like an invitation.

“Are you sure?” Aang asked. “I thought it was…”

“It’s not _forbidden_ , exactly” Katara explained. “I just… I tried to use it to help people back in the swamp, but ever since Azula, every time someone touched it I always thought about what she did. I didn’t want anyone to touch it anymore. Not even Sokka or Gran-Gran. I know they love me and that I can trust them but I just… couldn’t” she blinked away the tears. “But I think I’m ready now. And I trust you guys”

Zuko swallowed.

“Do you _want us_ to?”

She bit her lip.

“I think I do”

He took a deep breath. Touching her skin meant holding a weapon. It wouldn’t be different from pressing a sword to her neck. And she was _asking them_ to do it.

He softly held the hem of the skin between his thumb and forefinger. Katara’s breath hitched. It was the softest thing he had ever touched. And it was warm, like human skin. It _was_ human skin, in a way.

Aang placed an open palm on it. He stroked the hairs in the direction of their growth. It would be so easy to hurt her. All he had to do was to give her an order. Just accidentally asking for a favor could do it, and she may not even notice. How _easy_ it would be for _Aang_ to screw up, too. He often spoke quickly. But Zuko found that he wasn’t worried about that. He knew Aang was being as careful as he was.

Zuko pressed the pad of a finger against a black dot.

“I remember it was white before” he pointed out.

“It gets darker as you grow up” Katara explained. Her muscles were taut, even without looking at her Zuko could _feel it_ through the skin. He could tell how tense she was. He withdrew his hand, but Katara grasped it and squeezed it. The back of her hand rested on top of the skin.

She was looking at him, and he found himself unable to tear his eyes away from hers. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He couldn’t help but glance at her lips (Permission. Yes. Aang had given him permission. He was right there, softly stroking the sealskin and looking at them with pride).

He leaned in, and she met him halfway. A hesitant brush of lips. Someone clasped his free hand, but it wasn’t Katara. Aang gave it an encouraging squeeze.

So he pressed in with more determination. His heart raced with love— he _loved her_ — and he could _feel_ Katara’s heart as well, quick like an arctic hare. Their lips brushed together slowly. It was a timid peck. She pulled away for only a second before pushing with more force. Her hand tangled in his hair. She was blushing. She pulled tightly at the black strands, almost to the point of pain. He loosed his grip around her hand to open his palm and touch her sealskin with the pads of his fingers, pressing her own open hand against it. She shivered.

Could Azula tell how Katara felt when she held her skin? How could she hurt her when she was like that?

He would never hurt her. He would never let _Azula_ hurt her again.

When they finally pulled away, she gasped, and Zuko formed what he thought came off as a smirk but probably looked more like a dumb smile. It was nice to be able to kiss someone until they were out of breath. No wonder Aang did it all the time.

And Aang…

As soon as Katara recovered her breath, she leaned over Zuko, grabbed Aang by his clothes and pulled him into a kiss.

Zuko blinked. He… wasn’t expecting that, though it made a lot of sense now that he thought about it. Katara held Aang’s face with both hands and was _clearly_ leading the kiss. Aang’s hands were folded on top of the skin, on Zuko’s lap.

Seeing them like that certainly did _something_ to him.

They were… They were in love as well. All three of them.

He had the feeling that he should have figured it out earlier.

They pulled away. Katara took a deep breath. Aang was looking at him in a strange way.

“What?” Zuko asked.

“You won’t kiss me?”

Zuko smirked.

“Katara already kissed you” he teased. Aang pouted and put his head on Zuko’s shoulder. He was adorable, so Zuko decided with a smirk that he had earned a kiss. He held the nape of his neck and kissed him, holding him close so he couldn’t get away (obviously, he easily _could_ get away, if he wanted. He didn’t want to). Aang opened his mouth and his tongue brushed over his bottom lip. Zuko’s heart jumped. He wasn’t expecting that, but he opened his mouth and let him continue. Blood rushed through his ears as Aang explored his mouth.

Aang was the one to pull away. For an instant, Zuko almost felt cold without the touch, but it only lasted a moment, because Katara snuggled up to him and hid her face on his shoulder.

“You know” she said, touching his hair. Why was she touching his hair? “Even without a proper mane, you still have really nice hair”

“Hey!” Aang laughed. “Who’s to say this doesn’t count as a mane?” He ruffled his hair. Zuko hated it when he did that, but he couldn’t bring himself to be angry at him.

“Mmm… you’re right” Katara agreed after a moment. “It totally counts as a mane”

Zuko may have wanted to protest, but nothing they did actually bothered him. In fact, he quite enjoyed it.

“Oh! Katara!” Aang exclaimed after a minute. “I almost forgot. We brought you something”

Katara sat up to see better. Aang pretty much _stuck his hand_ into the Spirit World to produce the object. Katara gasped.

“My mother’s necklace!” She exclaimed, quickly snatching it from Aang’s hands. “How did you get it?”

“He stole it from Azula’s men” Zuko replied.

“You stole it from Azula?” Katara gasped. She smirked as she tied it around her neck. It looked beautiful on her. “I never had you for a thief!”

“Well, she stole it first” Aang smiled. “Besides, it’s not theft if you’re stealing from a thief”

“You’re absolutely right” Katara agreed. She leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek. “I can’t believe she kept it for so long” she gave Aang a mischievous glance. “You know, in the North Pole, giving a girl one of these equals a marriage proposal”

Zuko nearly jumped out of his skin.

“What!?”

Aang and Katara broke into laughter.

This was… not exactly _new_. He had gotten used to banter and affection in the last years. He had grown to accept this sort of care (even if he wouldn’t take it for granted). But he couldn’t help but think about the Agni Ka, and about what his father had done to him. He had justified it, in a beginning. He was told he was dishonorable and worthless, and he believed every word. And after the fight, he was alone. Of course he wouldn’t care about him the way Aang and Katara did. Of course no one in his family would try to comfort him back then, except for Uncle, but he had flown away before he could see him. Besides, he seemed to be relying the job of providing comfort to someone else. He guessed it was two different stages of life, and what Zuko needed was something different. And in the South Pole, when he woke up, there were…

Aang and Katara. They were there in the beginning and they were here now.

(They brought him out of the darkness).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (touching your partner's sealskin is like sex without sexual acts. Only intimacy and emotions).  
> I can't express how proud and happy I am to post this chapter. I always struggle to finish fics and tbh this is the first fanfic I ever actually *finsh*. I kinda see it as "breaking the curse". Now that I know that it IS possible for me to FINISH SOMETHING AT SOME POINT I feel a lot more hopeful about my next stories.  
> Also I might or might not write more about this AU that depends on how much people like it bc it took me some TIME.   
> IT FEELS SO GOOD TO FINALLY GET IT OVER WITH. I AM FREE.  
> Anyways I had a lot of fun writing this. I also had stress but mostly fun. It took a lot of blood sweat and tears. So yeah :) I really hope you guys like it. There's not a lot of zutaraang content which is just sad so I'm happy to PUT THIS INTO THE WORLD. IT'S 235 PAGES IN WORD. THIS IS LITERALLY 81,000 WORDS LONG. THAT'S MORE THAN HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE (76,944 words long). I WROTE AN ACTUAL BOOK GUYS.


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